Jeremiah 2:25

Sin

²³ “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,

²⁴ a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her.

You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’

²⁶ As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets

²⁷ say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble they beg, ‘Rise up and save us!’

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’
KJV: Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
WEB: “Keep your feet from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.’
ASV: Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
DARBY: Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst, There is no hope; no, for I love strangers, and after them will I go.
BLB: “Withhold your foot from [being] bare, and your throat from thirst: And you said, ‘[It is] hopeless! No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I shall go.’

ÅB: La ikke din fot bli bar og din strupe bli tørst! Men du sier: Forgjeves! Nei! Jeg elsker fremmede, og etter dem vil jeg gå.
OTB: Ikke løp til dine føtter er bare og din strupe er tørr. Men du sa, 'Det er håpløst! Jeg elsker fremmede guder, og jeg må gå etter dem.'
B1930: La ikke din fot bli bar og din strupe bli tørst! Men du sier: Forgjeves! Nei! Jeg elsker fremmede, og efter dem vil jeg gå.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Deuteronomy 32:16
They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
Read in context
Jeremiah 18:12
But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
Read in context
Jeremiah 3:13
Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD.
Read in context
Romans 8:24
For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
Read in context
Lamentations 4:4
The nursing infant’s tongue clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
Read in context
Isaiah 2:6
For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 29:19–20
because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
Read in context
Jeremiah 14:10
This is what the LORD says about this people: “Truly they love to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember their guilt and call their sins to account.”
Read in context