1Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried away captive Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah. He also captured the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon. Then Jehovah showed me two baskets of figs set before the Temple of Jehovah! 2One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs that could not be eaten because they were rotten. 3Then Jehovah said to me: »What do you see, Jeremiah?« I said: »Figs. The good figs are very good. The bad figs are very bad. They cannot be eaten because they are rotten.« 4The word of Jehovah came to me, He said: 5»Jehovah the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard the captives of Judah as good. I have sent them out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. 6»‘I will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them to this land again. I will build them up and not overthrow them. I will plant them and not uproot them. 7»‘I will give them a heart willdesire to know me. I am Jehovah! They will be my people, and I will be their God! They will return to me with their whole heart. 8»‘Like the bad figs that cannot be eaten because they are rotten,« says Jehovah, »so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9»‘»I will make them a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth. They will be a disgrace and an example. They will become something ridiculed and cursed wherever I scatter them. 10»‘»I will send wars, famines, and plagues until they disappear from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.« ’«