1 The Lord spoke to me in a vision after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had come to Judah and taken King Jehoiachin, his officials, and all the skilled workers back to Babylonia. In this vision I saw two baskets of figs in front of the Lord's temple.
2 One basket was full of very good figs that ripened early, and the other was full of rotten figs that were not fit to eat.
3 “Jeremiah,” the Lord asked, “what do you see?”“Figs,” I said. “Some are very good, but the others are too rotten to eat.”
4 Then the Lord told me to say:
5 People of Judah, the good figs stand for those of you I sent away as exiles to Babylonia,
6 where I am watching over them. Then someday I will bring them back to this land. I will plant them, instead of uprooting them, and I will build them up, rather than tearing them down.
7 I will give them a desire to know me and to be my people. They will want me to be their God, and they will turn back to me with all their heart.
8 The rotten figs stand for King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and all the others who were not taken away to Babylonia, whether they stayed here in Judah or went to live in Egypt.
9 I will punish them with a terrible disaster, and everyone on earth will tremble when they hear about it. I will force the people of Judah to go to foreign countries, where they will be cursed and insulted.
10 War and hunger and disease will strike them, until they finally disappear from the land that I gave them and their ancestors.