New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Jeremiah 24
1
King Jehoiachin was forced to leave Jerusalem. He was the son of Jehoiakim. Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. The officials and all of the skilled workers were forced to leave with him. After they left, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs. They were in front of his temple.
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2
One basket had very good figs in it. They were like figs that ripen early. The other basket had figs that weren't good at all. In fact, they were so bad they couldn't even be eaten.
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3
Then the Lord asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" "Figs," I answered. "The good ones are very good. But the others are so bad they can't be eaten."
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4
Then a message came to me from the Lord. He said,
5
"I am the Lord, the God of Israel. I say, 'I consider the people who were forced to leave Judah to be like those good figs. I sent them away from this place. I forced them to go to Babylonia.
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6
My eyes will watch over them. I will be good to them. And I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up. I will not tear them down. I will plant them. I will not pull them up by the roots.
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7
" 'I will change their hearts. Then they will know that I am the Lord. They will be my people. And I will be their God. They will return to me with all their heart.
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Parallel theme
Isaiah 51:16
References God
Hebrews 8:10
Jeremiah 30:22
Ezekiel 37:23
Zechariah 8:8
Romans 6:17
1 Samuel 7:3
Ezekiel 37:27
Zechariah 13:9
References Lord
Jeremiah 3:10
8
" 'But there are also figs that are not very good. In fact, they are so bad they can't be eaten,' says the Lord. 'Zedekiah, the king of Judah, is like those bad figs. So are his officials and the people of Jerusalem who are still left alive. I will punish them whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 24:2
9
" 'I will make all of the kingdoms on earth displeased with them. In fact, they will hate them a great deal. They will laugh and joke about them. They will call down curses on them. All of that will happen no matter where I force them to go.
Reference
Curse
Isaiah 65:15
Jeremiah 26:6
Kingdom
Jeremiah 15:4
Jeremiah 29:18
Jeremiah 34:17
Jeremiah 29:22
Jeremiah 25:18
Deuteronomy 28:25
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 28:37
1 Kings 9:7
10
I will send war, hunger and plague against them. They will be destroyed from the land I gave them and their people of long ago.' "
Reference
Word
Isaiah 51:19
Summary of Jeremiah 24
Jeremiah 24 uses a simple but powerful vision of two baskets of figs to explain that the people of Judah who were already taken into Babylonian exile should not automatically assume that their deportation means God has abandoned them, because God surprisingly identifies these exiles as the good figs and says that He will use their difficult experience to preserve, transform, and eventually restore them.
The vision takes place after the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC, when King Jehoiachin, members of the royal family, officials, craftsmen, soldiers, and many other Judeans were deported to Babylon, while another group remained in Jerusalem under King Zedekiah and continued to believe that remaining in the land meant they were in the better position.
God completely reverses this assumption by explaining that the exiles are the people He intends to watch over for their good, promising that He will eventually bring them back, rebuild them, and give them a heart capable of truly recognizing Him, meaning that exile can function as discipline and preparation rather than simply punishment and rejection.
The good figs therefore represent people who, although experiencing the painful consequences of Judah's national failure, remain within God's long-term purpose and will eventually participate in restoration.
The bad figs, by contrast, represent Zedekiah, his officials, the people who remain in Jerusalem, and those who flee toward Egypt, demonstrating that physical proximity to Jerusalem does not guarantee spiritual faithfulness, particularly when people continue resisting God's warnings and trusting their own political strategies rather than submitting to His direction.
The chapter is especially important because it challenges the natural human assumption that comfort means blessing and suffering means rejection; the people who were physically removed from their homeland might have appeared to be the losers, while those who remained in Jerusalem might have appeared to be the favored survivors, yet God reveals that the opposite can be true when viewed from the perspective of His long-term purposes.
The central message is that God can use painful circumstances such as exile, loss, and displacement as part of a larger process of correction and restoration, and the people who appear to have suffered the greatest immediate defeat may actually be the ones God intends to preserve and transform, while those who remain comfortable but continue stubbornly rejecting Him can move toward much more serious judgment, so the vision of the good and bad figs teaches that God's evaluation of people is not based on outward circumstances or apparent success but on whether they ultimately turn their hearts back toward Him and become willing to live as His people.
The vision takes place after the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC, when King Jehoiachin, members of the royal family, officials, craftsmen, soldiers, and many other Judeans were deported to Babylon, while another group remained in Jerusalem under King Zedekiah and continued to believe that remaining in the land meant they were in the better position.
God completely reverses this assumption by explaining that the exiles are the people He intends to watch over for their good, promising that He will eventually bring them back, rebuild them, and give them a heart capable of truly recognizing Him, meaning that exile can function as discipline and preparation rather than simply punishment and rejection.
The good figs therefore represent people who, although experiencing the painful consequences of Judah's national failure, remain within God's long-term purpose and will eventually participate in restoration.
The bad figs, by contrast, represent Zedekiah, his officials, the people who remain in Jerusalem, and those who flee toward Egypt, demonstrating that physical proximity to Jerusalem does not guarantee spiritual faithfulness, particularly when people continue resisting God's warnings and trusting their own political strategies rather than submitting to His direction.
The chapter is especially important because it challenges the natural human assumption that comfort means blessing and suffering means rejection; the people who were physically removed from their homeland might have appeared to be the losers, while those who remained in Jerusalem might have appeared to be the favored survivors, yet God reveals that the opposite can be true when viewed from the perspective of His long-term purposes.
The central message is that God can use painful circumstances such as exile, loss, and displacement as part of a larger process of correction and restoration, and the people who appear to have suffered the greatest immediate defeat may actually be the ones God intends to preserve and transform, while those who remain comfortable but continue stubbornly rejecting Him can move toward much more serious judgment, so the vision of the good and bad figs teaches that God's evaluation of people is not based on outward circumstances or apparent success but on whether they ultimately turn their hearts back toward Him and become willing to live as His people.