Jeremiah 21–24: The Kings Weighed, the Righteous Branch, and the Two Baskets of Figs

Scripture: Berean Standard Bible

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said, “Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is waging war against us. Perhaps the LORD will perform for us something like all his past wonders, so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”

But Jeremiah answered, “You are to tell Zedekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the wall, and I will assemble their forces in the center of this city. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, fury, and great wrath. I will strike down the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a terrible plague.’

‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’

Furthermore, you are to tell this people that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war. For I have set my face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.’

Moreover, tell the house of the king of Judah to hear the word of the LORD. O house of David, this is what the LORD says:

‘Administer justice every morning,and rescue the victim of robberyfrom the hand of his oppressor,or my wrath will go forth like fireand burn with no one to extinguish itbecause of their evil deeds.

Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley,atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us?Who can enter our dwellings?”I will punish you as your deeds deserve,declares the LORD.I will kindle a fire in your forestthat will consume everything around you.’ ”

This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there, saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David—you and your officials and your people who enter these gates. This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.

For if you will indeed carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace riding on chariots and horses—they and their officials and their people. But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house will become a pile of rubble.’ ”

For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“You are like Gilead to me,like the summit of Lebanon;but I will surely turn you into a desert,like cities that are uninhabited.I will appoint destroyers against you,each man with his weapons,and they will cut down the choicest of your cedarsand throw them into the fire.

And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’

Then people will reply, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’ ”

Do not weep for the dead king;do not mourn his loss.Weep bitterly for the one who is exiled,for he will never returnto see his native land.

For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah but has gone forth from this place: “He will never return, but he will die in the place to which he was exiled; he will never see this land again.”

“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,and his upper rooms without justice,who makes his countrymen serve without pay,and fails to pay their wages,who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace,with spacious upper rooms.’So he cuts windows in it,panels it with cedar,and paints it with vermilion.

Does it make you a king to excel in cedar?Did not your father have food and drink?He administered justice and righteousness,and so it went well with him.He took up the cause of the poor and needy,and so it went well with him.Is this not what it means to know me?”declares the LORD.“But your eyes and heart are set on nothingexcept your own dishonest gain,on shedding innocent blood,on practicing extortion and oppression.”

Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

“They will not mourn for him:‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’They will not mourn for him:‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’He will be buried like a donkey,dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.Go up to Lebanon and cry out;raise your voice in Bashan;cry out from Abarim,for all your lovers have been crushed.

I warned you when you were secure.You said, ‘I will not listen.’This has been your way from youth,that you have not obeyed my voice.The wind will drive away all your shepherds,and your lovers will go into captivity.Then you will be ashamed and humiliatedbecause of all your wickedness.O inhabitant of Lebanon,nestled in the cedars,how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you,agony like a woman in labor.”

“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off. In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another land, where neither of you were born—and there you both will die. You will never return to the land for which you long.”

Is this man Coniah a despised and shattered pot,a jar that no one wants?Why are he and his descendants hurled outand cast into a land they do not know?O land, land, land,hear the word of the LORD!

This is what the LORD says:

“Enroll this man as childless,a man who will not prosper in his lifetime.None of his descendants will prosperto sit on the throne of Davidor to rule again in Judah.”

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD.

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: “You have scattered my flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.

Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD.

Behold, the days are coming,declares the LORD,when I will raise up for Davida righteous Branch,and he will reign wisely as Kingand will administer justice and righteousness in the land.In his days Judah will be saved,and Israel will dwell securely.And this is his name by which he will be called:The LORD our Righteousness.

So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which he had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.”

As for the prophets:

My heart is broken within me,and all my bones tremble.I have become like a drunkard,like a man overcome by wine,because of the LORD,because of his holy words.For the land is full of adulterers—because of the curse, the land mournsand the pastures of the wilderness have dried up—their course is eviland their power is misused.

“For both prophet and priest are ungodly;even in my house I have found their wickedness,”declares the LORD.“Therefore their path will become slick;they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it.For I will bring disaster upon themin the year of their punishment,”declares the LORD.“Among the prophets of SamariaI saw an offensive thing:They prophesied by Baaland led my people Israel astray.And among the prophets of JerusalemI have seen a horrible thing:They commit adulteryand walk in lies.They strengthen the hands of evildoers,so that no one turns his back on wickedness.They are all like Sodom to me;the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets:

“I will feed them wormwoodand give them poisoned water to drink,for from the prophets of Jerusalemungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

This is what the LORD of Hosts says:

“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.They are filling you with false hopes.They speak visions from their own minds,not from the mouth of the LORD.They keep saying to those who despise me,‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart,‘No harm will come to you.’

But which of them has stood in the council of the LORDto see and hear his word?Who has given heed to his wordand obeyed it?Behold, the storm of the LORDhas gone out with fury,a whirlwind swirling downupon the heads of the wicked.The anger of the LORD will not turn backuntil he has fully accomplished the purposes of his heart.In the days to comeyou will understand this clearly.

I did not send these prophets,yet they have run with their message;I did not speak to them,yet they have prophesied.But if they had stood in my council,they would have proclaimed my words to my peopleand turned them backfrom their evil ways and deeds.”

“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?”

“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD.

“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in my name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds? They suppose the dreams that they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name through the worship of Baal.

Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has my word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”

“Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to me.”

“Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The LORD declares it.’ ”

“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

“Now when this people or a prophet or priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’

As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household.

This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ But refer no more to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes the burden, so that you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts, our God.

Thus you are to say to the prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

But if you claim, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ and I specifically told you not to make this claim, therefore I will surely forget you and will cast you out of my presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.”

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.

“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.”

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “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. I will keep my eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them. And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’ ”