Jeremiah 24:3
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.
2 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.
“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,
5 “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.
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
- “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.”
- KJV
- 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.
- WEB
- Then the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so bad that they can’t be eaten.”
- ASV
- Then said Jehovah unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
- DARBY
- And Jehovah said unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs very good; and the bad very bad, which cannot be eaten for badness.
- BLB
- “And YHWH said to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs—the good figs [are] very good, and the bad [are] very bad, which could not be eaten for badness.”
- ÅB
- Og Herren sa til meg: Hva ser du, Jeremias? Jeg svarte: fikener; de gode fikener er meget gode, og de dårlige er meget dårlige, så de ikke kan spises, fordi de er så dårlige.
- OTB
- Da spurte Herren meg: «Hva ser du, Jeremia?» Jeg svarte: «Fikener: de gode er meget gode, men de dårlige er så dårlige at de ikke kan spises.»
- B1930
- Og Herren sa til mig: Hvad ser du, Jeremias? Jeg svarte: fikener; de gode fikener er meget gode, og de dårlige er meget dårlige, så de ikke kan etes, fordi de er så dårlige.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Amos 8:2
“Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”
Read in contextZechariah 5:5–11
Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Now lift up your eyes and see what is approaching.”
Read in contextZechariah 4:2
“What do you see?” he asked. “I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.
Read in contextMatthew 25:32–33
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Read in contextJeremiah 1:11–14
And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
Read in contextAmos 7:8
“Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
Read in context1 Samuel 9:9
(Formerly in Israel, a man on his way to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer.” For the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.)
Read in context