1 THE Lord shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3 Then said the Lord unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

1The Lord shewed mee, and behold, two baskets of figges were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchad-rezzar king of Babylon had caried away captiue Ieconiah the sonne of Iehoiakim king of Iudah, and the princes of Iudah, with the carpenters and smiths from Ierusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

2One basket had very good figges, euen like the figges that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figges, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

3Then said the Lord vnto me; What seest thou Ieremiah? and I said: Figges: the good figges, very good and the euill, very euill, that cannot be eaten, they are so euill.

4 Againe, the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying;

5Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Like these good figges, so will I acknowledge them that are caried away captiue of Iudah, whom I haue sent out of this place into the land of the Caldeans for their good.

6For I will set mine eyes vpon them for good, and I will bring them againe to this land, and I will build them, and not pull them downe, and I will plant them, and not plucke them vp.

7And I will giue them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall returne vnto me with their whole heart.

8 And as the euill figges which cannot be eaten, they are so euill; (Surely thus saith the Lord) so will I giue Zedekiah the king of Iudah, and his princes, and the residue of Ierusalem, that remaine in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt.

9And I will deliuer them to be remoued into all the kingdomes of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproch and a prouerbe, a taunt and a curse in all places whither I shall driue them.

10And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they be consumed from off the land, that I gaue vnto them, and to their fathers.

VI == Jer 12:15 ; 29:10 ; 32:41 ' 33:4 ; 42:10

VII == Deut 30:6 ; Jer 29:13 ; 30:22 ; 31:33 ; 32:38-39 ; Ezek 11:19 ; 36:26-27

VIII == Jer 29:17

IX == Deut 28:25 , 37 ; 1st Kings 9:7 ; 2nd Chr 7:20 ; Ps 44:13-14 ; Jer 15:4 ; 29:18 , 22 ; 34:17 ; 36:1

1 The LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. - This was after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had exiled from Jerusalem Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, the artisans and the skilled workers, and brought them to Babylon. - 

2 One basket contained excellent figs, the early-ripening kind. But the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

3 Then the LORD said to me: What do you see, Jeremiah? "Figs," I replied; "the good ones are very good, but the bad ones very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten."

4 Thereupon this word of the LORD came to me:

5 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, even so will I regard with favor Judah's exiles whom I sent away from this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

6 I will look after them for their good, and bring them back to this land, to build them up, not to tear them down; to plant them, not to pluck them out.

7 I will give them a heart with which to understand that I am the LORD. They shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

8 And like the figs that are bad, so bad they cannot be eaten - yes, thus says the LORD - even so will I treat Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes, the remnant of Jerusalem remaining in this land and those who have settled in the land of Egypt.

9 I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all the places to which I will drive them.

10 I will send upon them the sword, famine, and pestilence, until they have disappeared from the land which I gave them and their fathers.

v 1-3. The vision of two baskets of figs was given after Jehoiachin, other leaders and skilled workers were exiled to Babylon, 2 Ki. 24:8-16, during 597 BC at the start of Zedekiah’s reign. One basket of good figs was brought to the temple as an offering of firstfruits. The other was very bad, unacceptable as an offering, Mal. 1:6-9.

v 4-7. Those exiled to Babylon were like the good figs. They had the promise of God’s protection and return to their homeland. Many chose not to return, and the full blessing awaits even the others until the Millennial reign of Christ.

v 8-10. The bad figs were compared to Zedekiah and others who fled, and those who later fled to Egypt. They did not escape God’s judgment, but the sword, pestilence and famine followed them until they were consumed from the promised land.