Liber Ieremiae, 24

1. Ostendit mihi Dominus, et ecce duo calathi pleni ficis positi ante templum Domini, postquam transtulit Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis Iechoniam filium Ioachim regem Iudae et principes eius et fabrum et inclusorem de Ierusalem et adduxit eos in Babylonem.

1. After Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconi'ah the son of Jehoi'akim, king of Judah, together with the princes of Judah, the craftsmen, and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: Behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD.

2. Calathus unus ficus bonas habebat nimis, ut solent ficus esse primi temporis; et calathus unus ficus habebat malas nimis, quae comedi non poterant, eo quod essent malae.

2. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.

3. Et dixit Dominus ad me: “Quid tu vides, Ieremia?”. Et dixi: “Ficus, ficus bonas, bonas valde, et malas, malas valde, quae comedi non possunt, eo quod sint malae”.

3. 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."

4. Et factum est verbum Domini ad me dicens:

4. Then the word of the LORD came to me:

5. “Haec dicit Dominus, Deus Israel: Sicut ficus hae bonae, sic cognoscam transmigrationem Iudae, quam emisi de loco isto in terram Chaldaeorum, in bonum.

5. "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chalde'ans.

6. Et ponam oculos meos super eos ad placandum et reducam eos in terram hanc et aedificabo eos et non destruam et plantabo eos et non evellam.

6. I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not uproot them.

7. Et dabo eis cor, ut sciant me quia ego sum Dominus; et erunt mihi in populum, et ego ero eis in Deum, quia revertentur ad me in toto corde suo.

7. I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

8. Et sicut ficus pessimae, quae comedi non possunt, eo quod sint malae, haec dicit Dominus, sic dabo Sedeciam regem Iudae et principes eius et reliquos de Ierusalem, qui remanserunt in terra hac et qui habitant in terra Aegypti.

8. "But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedeki'ah the king of Judah, his princes, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

9. Et dabo eos in vexationem afflictionemque omnibus regnis terrae, in opprobrium et in proverbium et in derisum et in maledictionem in universis locis, ad quae eieci eos.

9. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.

10. Et mittam in eis gladium et famem et pestem, donec consumantur de terra, quam dedi eis et patribus eorum”.

10. And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their fathers."