2 One of the baskets had very good figs in it. They were like figs that ripen early in the season. But the other basket had rotten figs. They were too rotten to eat.
3 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”I answered, “I see figs. The good figs are very good. But the rotten figs are too rotten to eat.”
4 Then the Lord spoke his word to me.
5 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said: “I sent the people of Judah out of their country into Babylon. Those people will be like these good figs. I think of them as good.
6 I will look after them. I will bring them back to the land of Judah. I will not tear them down. I will build them up. I will not pull them up. I will plant them so they can grow.
7 I will make them want to know me. They will know that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God. This is because they will return to me with their whole hearts.
8 “But the bad figs are too rotten to eat,” says the Lord. “Zedekiah king of Judah and his officers will be like those rotten figs. All the people from Jerusalem who are left alive will be like that. This will be true even if those people now live in Egypt.