1
Avimelekh came to the estate, gathered figs, and began returning to the city in the heat of the day.
2
Becoming tired, he found a tree and sat beneath its shade.
3
He placed his head upon the basket of figs and fell into a deep sleep.
4
The sleep continued through the years of the exile.
5
When Avimelekh awakened, he thought he had slept only a little while.
6
He uncovered the basket and saw that the figs were still fresh, soft, and dripping with their sap as when he had gathered them.
7
He worried that Yirmeyahu might be displeased because he believed he had delayed only until later in the same day.
8
He lifted the basket and returned toward Yerushalayim.
9
As he approached, the roads, walls, buildings, and people appeared unfamiliar.
10
He asked for the house of Yirmeyahu and for people he had known, but no one recognized what he was describing.
11
Confused, he wondered whether he had entered the wrong city.
12
He met an aged ish coming from the fields and asked, 'What city is this?'
13
The old man answered: 'This is Yerushalayim.'
14
Avimelekh asked: 'Where is Yirmeyahu the kohen, and where is Baruk, and where are all the people who were here?'
15
The old man was astonished that Avimelekh asked about events so distant in the past.
16
He said that Nevukhadnetzar had carried the people to Bavel and that Yirmeyahu was with them there, instructing and comforting them.
17
Avimelekh answered that such a thing was impossible, because he had only just left Yirmeyahu to gather figs.
18
He argued that even if the windows of heaven had poured down water, not enough time had passed for the entire people to be carried to Bavel.
19
He explained his errand, his brief rest under the tree, and his awakening.
20
To prove his words he opened the basket.
21
The old man saw the figs still dripping as though freshly picked.
22
Then both understood that a great mystery had occurred.
23
Avimelekh asked the old man to tell him how many years had passed.
24
The long recension gives a period of roughly the exile - commonly seventy years in the Greek tradition, with variant chronological forms in some witnesses.
25
Avimelekh fell into astonishment and grief.
26
He understood that Yahuah had hidden him from the destruction and preserved the figs as a sign of life.
27
He sought Baruk, who had remained near the ruins.
28
Avimelekh and Baruk met, wept, embraced, and gave thanks.
29
The fresh figs became the central sign that the One who preserves fruit beyond ordinary time can also restore the people after exile.
30
The miracle became the basis for their hope in resurrection and the return of Yisra'el.