Jeremiah 24:2

¹ After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.

One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

³ “Jeremiah,” the LORD asked, “what do you see?” “Figs!” I replied. “The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten.”

⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
KJV: 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.
WEB: One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
ASV: One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
DARBY: One basket had very good figs, like the figs first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness.
BLB: One basket [had] very good figs like the figs first ripe, and the other basket [had] very bad figs that could not be eaten for badness.

ÅB: I den ene kurv var det meget gode fikener, som de tidlige fikener, men i den andre kurv meget dårlige fikener, som ikke kunne spises, fordi de var så dårlige.
OTB: Den ene kurven inneholdt meget gode fikener, som de som modnes tidlig; den andre kurven inneholdt meget dårlige fikener, så dårlige at de ikke kunne spises på grunn av deres råttenhet.
B1930: I den ene kurv var det meget gode fikener, som de tidlige fikener, men i den andre kurv meget dårlige fikener, som ikke kunde etes, fordi de var så dårlige.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 5:4
What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?
Read in context
Isaiah 5:7
For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.
Read in context
Micah 7:1
Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.
Read in context
Hosea 9:10
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved.
Read in context
Ezekiel 15:2–5
“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest?
Read in context
Jeremiah 29:17
this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten.
Read in context
Malachi 1:12–14
“But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’
Read in context
Jeremiah 24:5–10
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
Read in context