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Jeremiah 24

YHWH promises restoration and changed hearts to Judah’s exiles, while announcing judgment against those who remain or dwell in Egypt.

Two baskets of figs stand before YHWH’s temple in a vision shown to Jeremiah after Babylon has taken King Jeconiah and many of Judah’s leaders and skilled workers into exile. YHWH explains the contrast between the good fruit and the inedible fruit. He promises to restore the captives and give them hearts that know him. For King Zedekiah, those remaining in Jerusalem, and those living in Egypt, he announces scattering and destruction.

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1The LORD showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs were set before the LORD’s temple, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2One 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.
3Then 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.”
5“The LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, as good.
6For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them, and not pull them down. I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7I 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 their whole heart.
8“‘As the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, they are so bad,’ surely the LORD says, ‘So I will give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.
9I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them.
10I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.’”
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Key verses
Jeremiah 24:7The promised return includes a heart given by God to know him and a restored bond with his people.
Jeremiah 24:9The bad figs face scattering and public disgrace, exposing the danger facing those outside the promised restoration.
Jeremiah 24:6God pledges his care for the captives through images of building and planting, promising their return to the land.
Where this chapter reaches

Ezekiel shares the promise of God gathering displaced people, changing their hearts, and renewing the bond between God and his people. Deuteronomy shares the language of wholehearted return to God, alongside warnings of scattering, disgrace, and destruction for covenant unfaithfulness.

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After reading the whole chapter

How does the contrast between the two baskets challenge your assumptions about security and hardship?

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What stands out to you about God giving the exiles a heart to know him?

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Questions people ask about Jeremiah 24

What do the good and bad figs mean in Jeremiah 24?

The good figs represent the captives of Judah taken to Babylon, whom God promises to regard with favor and restore. The bad figs represent Zedekiah, his officials, the remnant in Jerusalem, and those dwelling in Egypt. Their contrasting futures are restoration with renewed hearts and judgment through scattering and destruction.

Why are the exiles called good figs in Jeremiah 24?

God says he will regard the captives as good and set his eyes on them for good. The passage does not describe their past conduct or call them sinless. Its emphasis falls on God’s purpose for them: return to the land and a heart to know him.

What does Jeremiah 24:7 mean by a heart to know God?

God promises to give the exiles a heart that recognizes him as YHWH. The rest of the verse explains this knowledge through belonging and wholehearted return: they will be his people, and he will be their God. The promise joins God’s gift of a changed heart with their return to him.

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Jeremiah · 52 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).