Jeremiah 24
What Happens in This Chapter
The LORD shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs in front of the temple, one very good and one too bad to eat. God explains the picture: the people of Judah already taken away to Babylon are the good figs, and he promises to watch over them, bring them back, and give them a heart to know him. King Zedekiah, his officials, and the people still in Jerusalem or living in Egypt are the bad figs, and God says he will scatter them and send sword, famine, and plague until they are gone from the land. The chapter comes after Jeconiah and the skilled workers were carried off to Babylon.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
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.
1King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came and took people away from Jerusalem. He took King Jeconiah of Judah, the son of Jehoiakim. He also took Judah's leaders and the workers who built things. He carried them all off to Babylon. After that, the LORD showed me something. Two baskets of figs sat in front of the LORD's temple, the house where people worshipped God.
"Nebuchadrezzar" is another spelling of the name Nebuchadnezzar. The KJV says "carpenters and smiths." These were skilled workers who made things out of wood and metal.
2One 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.
2One basket held very good figs. They looked like the first figs to ripen in summer. The other basket held very bad figs. They were too rotten to eat.
The KJV calls the bad figs "naughty." In 1611 that word meant rotten or worthless, not mischievous.
3Then 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.
3Then the LORD said to me, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" I said, "Figs. The good figs are very good. The bad figs are very bad. No one could eat them."
4Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
4Then the LORD spoke to me again. He said:
5Thus 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.
5"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. The people of Judah who were carried away are like these good figs. I am the one who sent them from here to the land of Babylon. I count them as good, and it will turn out well for them.
6For 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.
6I will keep my eyes on them and be kind to them. I will bring them back to this land again. I will build them up. I will not tear them down. I will plant them. I will not pull them up.
7And 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.
7I will give them a heart that truly knows me. They will know that I am the LORD. They will be my people. I will be their God. They will come back to me with their whole heart.
8And 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:
8But some people are like the bad figs, too rotten to eat. This is what the LORD says about them. That is how I will treat King Zedekiah of Judah. I will treat his leaders the same way. I will also treat the people still left in Jerusalem the same way. And I will treat the people now living in Egypt the same way.
9And 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.
9I will send them away into every kingdom on earth, and it will go badly for them. Everywhere I send them, people will look down on them. People will talk about them, make fun of them, and use their name in curses.
The KJV says they will be "a proverb." That means people will use them as a well-known example when they talk about trouble.
10And 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.
10I will send war, hunger, and sickness among them. It will go on until none of them are left in the land. That is the land I gave to them and to their parents long ago."
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