1. The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple. (This was after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had taken away Jehoiakim's son, King Jehoiachin of Judah, as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Babylonia, together with the leaders of Judah, the craftsmen, and the skilled workers.)
2. The first basket contained good figs, those that ripen early; the other one contained bad figs, too bad to eat.
3. Then the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”I answered, “Figs. The good ones are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, too bad to eat.”
4. So the Lord said to me,
5. “I, the Lord, the God of Israel, consider that the people who were taken away to Babylonia are like these good figs, and I will treat them with kindness.
6. I will watch over them and bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not pull them up.