Lectionary Calendar
Friday, September 12th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

New Life Version

Jeremiah 24:3

Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Fig Tree;   Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Righteous;   Symbols and Similitudes;   Thompson Chain Reference - Jeremiah;   The Topic Concordance - Covenant;   Israel/jews;   Pestilence;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Fig-Tree, the;   Saints, Compared to;  

Dictionaries:

- Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Jeremiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Evil;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Apocalyptic Literature;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Captivity;   Jehoiachin;   Zedekiah (2);  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
Hebrew Names Version
Then said the LORD to me, What see you, Yirmeyahu? I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
King James Version
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.
English Standard Version
And the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten."
New American Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad ones, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness."
New Century Version
The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "I see figs. The good figs are very good, but the rotten figs are too rotten to eat."
Amplified Bible
Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, so rotten that they cannot be eaten."
World English Bible
Then said Yahweh to me, What see you, Jeremiah? I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then saide the Lorde vnto mee, What seest thou, Ieremiah? And I said, Figges: ye good figges verie good, & the naughtie verie naughtie, which cannot be eaten, they are so euill.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Yahweh said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the rotten figs, very rotten, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness."
Berean Standard Bible
"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."
Contemporary English Version
"Jeremiah," the Lord asked, "what do you see?" "Figs," I said. "Some are very good, but the others are too rotten to eat."
Complete Jewish Bible
Then Adonai asked me, "Yirmeyahu, what do you see?" I answered, "Figs — the good figs are very good; but the bad ones are very bad, so bad they are inedible."
Darby Translation
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.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "I see figs. The good figs are very good, and the rotten figs are very rotten. They are too rotten to eat."
George Lamsa Translation
Then the LORD said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, so that they cannot be eaten because they are so bad.
Good News Translation
Then the Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" I answered, "Figs. The good ones are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, too bad to eat."
Lexham English Bible
And Yahweh asked me, "What are you seeing, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs—the good figs, very good, and the bad figs, very bad, that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality."
Literal Translation
And Jehovah said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so that they cannot be eaten from their badness.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the LORDE vnto me: what seist thou Ieremy? I sayde: fyges, where of some be very good, and some so euel, that no man maye eate them.
American Standard Version
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.
Bible in Basic English
Then the Lord said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs are very good, and the bad very bad, and of no use for food, they are so bad.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said the LORD 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.'
King James Version (1611)
Then said the Lord vnto me; What seest thou Ieremiah? and I said: Figges: the good figges, very good and the euill, very euill, that cannot be eaten, they are so euill.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayd the Lord vnto me: What seest thou Ieremie? I sayde, figges, whereof some be very good, and some so euyll that no man may eate them.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord said to me, What seest thou, Jeremias? and I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, for their badness.
English Revised Version
Then said the LORD 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.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord seide to me, Jeremye, what thing seest thou? And Y seide, Figis, goode figis, ful goode, and yuele figis, ful yuele, that moun not be etun, for tho ben yuele figis.
Update Bible Version
Then Yahweh said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then said the LORD to 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.
New English Translation
The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten."
New King James Version
Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad."
New Living Translation
Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "Figs, some very good and some very bad, too rotten to eat."
New Revised Standard
And the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Yahweh unto me, - What canst thou see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, for badness.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord said to me: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: Figs, the good figs, very good: and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten because they are bad.
Revised Standard Version
And the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten."
Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah saith unto me, `What art thou seeing, Jeremiah?' and I say, `Figs, the good figs [are] very good, and the bad [are] very bad, that are not eaten for badness.'
THE MESSAGE
God said to me, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" "Figs," I said. "Excellent figs of the finest quality, and also rotten figs, so rotten they can't be eaten."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness."

Contextual Overview

1 After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the leaders of Judah, together with the able workmen from Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs set in front of the house of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like figs just ready to eat. And the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten." 4 Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 "This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so will I think of the people of Judah as being good, whom I have sent away from this place into the land of the Babylonians. 6 For I will keep My eyes on them for their good, and I will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not pull them up by the roots. 7 And I will give them a heart to know Me, for 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 "But the Lord says, ‘Like the bad figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten, so I will give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his captains. And I will give up those left of Jerusalem who stay in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a cause of fear and trouble for all the nations of the earth. They will be a shame and a curse and spoken against in all the places where I will make them go. 10 And I will send the sword and hunger and disease upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their fathers.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

What: Jeremiah 1:11-14, 1 Samuel 9:9, Amos 7:8, Amos 8:2, Zechariah 4:2, Zechariah 5:2, Zechariah 5:5-11, Matthew 25:32, Matthew 25:33

Cross-References

Genesis 6:2
the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. And they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
Genesis 6:4
Very large men were on the earth in those days, and later also, when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, who gave birth to their children. These were the powerful men of long ago, men of much strength.
Genesis 14:19
And Melchizedek honored Abram and said, "May good come to Abram from God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.
Genesis 14:22
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have promised the Lord God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth,
Genesis 21:23
So promise me here by God that you will not work against me, or my son, or any children after me. I have shown you kindness. So return kindness to me and to the land where you have come."
Genesis 24:3
and I will have you promise by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. Promise that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, who live around me.
Genesis 24:4
But go to my country and to those of my family. Take a wife for my son Isaac from there."
Genesis 24:14
If I say to a girl, ‘Let down your jar so that I may drink,' and she answers, ‘Drink, and I will give water to your camels also,' let her be the one whom You have chosen for your servant Isaac. I will know by this that You have shown loving-kindness to my boss."
Genesis 24:15
Before he had finished speaking, Rebekah came out, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor, the brother of Abraham. She had a jar on her shoulder.
Genesis 24:17
Then the servant ran to meet her. He said, "Let me drink a little water from your jar."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said the Lord unto me, what seest thou, Jeremiah?.... This question is put, in order that, upon his answer to it, he might have an explication of the vision:

and I said, figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil,

that cannot be eaten, they are so evil; or "so bad", or "because of badness" b; which may be applied to mankind in general; who may be distinguished into good and bad: those that are good, who are made so by the grace of God; for none are so by nature, or of themselves; they are very good: they have many good things in them; they have a good heart, a new and a clean heart, and a right spirit created in them; they have a good understanding of spiritual things; they have a good will to that which is good, and good affections for God and Christ, and divine things; they have the good Spirit of God and his graces in them, and Christ and his word dwelling in them: and they do good things, and are prepared for every good work; they are good to others; pleasantly and acceptably good to God through Christ; and profitably good to their fellow saints and fellow creatures. On the other hand, those that are bad are exceeding bad; as they are by nature children of wrath, unclean, corrupt, loathsome, and abominable in the sight of God; so they are from their youth upward, and continue so, and are never otherwise; all in them, and that comes from them, are evil; their hearts are desperately wicked, the thoughts and imaginations of their hearts are evil continually; their words are idle, corrupt, and filthy, and all their actions sinful; there is no good in them, nor any done by them; they are good for nothing; they are of no use to God, to themselves, or others; sin has made them like itself, exceeding sinful: and now between these two sorts there is no medium; though all sins are not alike; and some in a comparative sense may be called greater or lesser sinners; yet all are exceeding bad, even the least: they are all of the same nature, and have the same wicked hearts; though some may be outwardly righteous before men; and hypocrites and formal professors are worst of all. There never were but two sorts of persons in the world; the seed of the woman, and the seed of the serpent; the children of God, and the children of the devil; and so things will appear hereafter at the great day; the one will be placed at Christ's right hand as good and righteous men, the other at his left hand as wicked, and will have separate states to all eternity: and so those figs are explained in the Talmud c; the good figs, they are the perfect righteous; the bad figs, they are the perfect wicked.

b מרע "prae pravitate", Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius "prae malitia", Schmidt. c T. Bab. Erubim, fol. 21. 2.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile