Jeremiah 2:25

THE MESSAGE

"Slow down. Take a deep breath. What's the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway? But you say, ‘I can't help it. I'm addicted to alien gods. I can't quit.'

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Keep your feet from going bareand your throat from thirst.But you say, “It’s hopeless;I love strangers,and I will continue to follow them.”

Hebrew Names Version
Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is hopeless, for I have loved foreigners, and after them I will go.'

New American Standard Bible
"Keep your feet from being bare, And your throat from thirst; But you said, 'It is hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, And I will walk after them.'

New Century Version
Don't run until your feet are bare or until your throat is dry. But you say, ‘It's no use! I love those other gods, and I must chase them!'

Amplified Bible
"[Cease your mad running after idols to] Keep your feet from becoming bare And your throat from becoming dry; But you said, 'It is hopeless! For I have loved strangers and foreign gods, And I will walk after them.'

World English Bible
Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Keepe thou thy feete from barenes, and thy throte from thirst: but thou saidest desperately, No, for I haue loued strangers, and them will I followe.

Legacy Standard Bible
Keep your feet from being barefootAnd your throat from thirst;But you said, ‘It is hopeless!No! For I have loved strangers,And after them I will walk.'

Berean Standard Bible
Keep your feet from being unshod and your throat from thirst. But you say, 'It is hopeless! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.'

Contemporary English Version
Your shoes are worn out, and your throat is parched from running here and there to worship foreign gods. "Stop!" I shouted, but you replied, "No! I love those gods too much."

Complete Jewish Bible
"Stop before your shoes wear out, and your throat is dry from thirst! But you say, ‘No, it's hopeless! I love these strangers, and I'm going after them.'

Darby Translation
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.

Easy-to-Read Version
Judah, stop chasing after idols! Stop wanting those other gods. But you say, ‘It is no use! I cannot stop! I love those other gods. I can't stop chasing them.'

George Lamsa Translation
Your feet are weary because they are unshod, and your throat is dry from thirst; but you said, I have become strong, I am unwilling to repent because I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.

Good News Translation
Israel, don't wear your feet out, or let your throat become dry from chasing after other gods. But you say, ‘No! I can't turn back. I have loved foreign gods and will go after them.'"

Lexham English Bible
Restrain your foot from being barefoot, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is hopeless. No! For I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.'

Literal Translation
Withhold your foot from being bare and your throat from thirst. But you said, It is hopeless! For I love strangers, and after them I will go.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou kepest thy fote from nakednes, and thy throte from thurste, and thinkest thus in thy self: tush, I wil take no sorowe, I wil loue the straunge goddes, & hange vpon them.

American Standard Version
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.

Bible in Basic English
Do not let your foot be without shoes, or your throat dry from need of water: but you said, There is no hope: no, for I have been a lover of strange gods, and after them I will go.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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.'

King James Version (1611)
Withhold thy foote from being vnshod, and thy throte from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope. No, for I haue loued strangers, and after them will I goe.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Kepe thy foote from nakednesse, and thy throte from thirst, and thou thinkest in thy selfe: tushe, I wil take no sorowe, for I haue loued the straungers, and them wyll I folowe.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Withdraw thy foot from a rough way, and they throat from thirst: but she said I will strengthen myself: for she loved strangers, and went after them.

English Revised Version
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.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forbede thi foot fro nakidnesse, and thi throte fro thirst; and thou seidist, Y dispeiride, Y schal not do; for Y louede brennyngli alien goddis, and Y schal go aftir hem.

Update Bible Version
Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

New English Translation
Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out and your throats become dry. But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me because I love those foreign gods and want to pursue them!'

New King James Version
Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, "There is no hope. No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.'

New Living Translation
When will you stop running? When will you stop panting after other gods? But you say, ‘Save your breath. I'm in love with these foreign gods, and I can't stop loving them now!'

New Life Bible
Do not run until your shoes wear out or until your mouth is dry. But you said, ‘It is of no use, for I love strange gods, and I will go after them.'

New Revised Standard
Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, "It is hopeless, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst! But thou saidst Hopeless! No! for I love foreigners and after them, will I go.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Keep thy foot from being bare, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst: I have lost all hope, I will not do it: for I have loved strangers, and I will walk after them.

Revised Standard Version
Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, 'It is hopeless, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.'

Young's Literal Translation
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst, And thou sayest, `It is incurable, No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I go.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Keep your feet from being unshod And your throat from thirst; But you said, 'It is hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, And after them I will walk.'

Contextual Overview

²⁰"A long time ago you broke out of the harness. You shook off all restraints. You said, ‘I will not serve!' and off you went, Visiting every sex-and-religion shrine on the way, like a common whore. You were a select vine when I planted you from completely reliable stock. And look how you've turned out— a tangle of rancid growth, a poor excuse for a vine. Scrub, using the strongest soaps. Scour your skin raw. The sin-grease won't come out. I can't stand to even look at you!" God 's Decree, the Master's Decree. ²³"How dare you tell me, ‘I'm not stained by sin. I've never chased after the Baal sex gods'! Well, look at the tracks you've left behind in the valley. How do you account for what is written in the desert dust— Tracks of a camel in heat, running this way and that, tracks of a wild donkey in rut, Sniffing the wind for the slightest scent of sex. Who could possibly corral her! On the hunt for sex, sex, and more sex— insatiable, indiscriminate, promiscuous. ²⁵ "Slow down. Take a deep breath. What's the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway? But you say, ‘I can't help it. I'm addicted to alien gods. I can't quit.' ²⁶"Just as a thief is chagrined, but only when caught, so the people of Israel are chagrined, Caught along with their kings and princes, their priests and prophets. They walk up to a tree and say, ‘My father!' They pick up a stone and say, ‘My mother! You bore me!' All I ever see of them is their backsides. They never look me in the face. But when things go badly, they don't hesitate to come running, calling out, ‘Get a move on! Save us!' Why not go to your handcrafted gods you're so fond of? Rouse them. Let them save you from your bad times. You've got more gods, Judah, than you know what to do with.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Withhold: Jeremiah 13:22, Deuteronomy 28:48, Isaiah 20:2-4, Lamentations 4:4, Hosea 2:3, Luke 15:22, Luke 16:24

There is no hope: or, Is the case desperate, Jeremiah 18:12, Isaiah 57:10

for I have: Jeremiah 3:13, Isaiah 2:6

after: Jeremiah 44:17, Deuteronomy 29:19, Deuteronomy 29:20, Deuteronomy 32:16, 2 Chronicles 28:22, Romans 2:4, Romans 2:5, Romans 8:24

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 17:15 - not set 2 Kings 6:33 - this evil is of the Lord Job 7:6 - without hope Jeremiah 6:16 - We will Jeremiah 8:6 - as Jeremiah 14:10 - refrained Ezekiel 16:32 - General Ezekiel 33:10 - how Ezekiel 37:11 - Our bones Hosea 2:5 - their mother John 13:27 - That Acts 27:20 - all

Cross-References

Genesis 2:10
A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there divides into four rivers. The first is named Pishon; it flows through Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this land is good. The land is also known for a sweet-scented resin and the onyx stone. The second river is named Gihon; it flows through the land of Cush. The third river is named Hiddekel and flows east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 3:7
Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on"—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.

Exodus 32:25
Moses saw that the people were simply running wild—Aaron had let them run wild, disgracing themselves before their enemies. He took up a position at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is on God 's side, join me!" All the Levites stepped up.

Psalms 25:3
I've thrown in my lot with you; You won't embarrass me, will you? Or let my enemies get the best of me? Don't embarrass any of us Who went out on a limb for you. It's the traitors who should be humiliated.

Isaiah 44:9
All those who make no-god idols don't amount to a thing, and what they work so hard at making is nothing. Their little puppet-gods see nothing and know nothing—they're total embarrassments! Who would bother making gods that can't do anything, that can't "god"? Watch all the no-god worshipers hide their faces in shame. Watch the no-god makers slink off humiliated when their idols fail them. Get them out here in the open. Make them face God-reality.

Mark 8:38
"If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I'm leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you'll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels."

Romans 10:11
Scripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it." It's exactly the same no matter what a person's religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. "Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!' gets help."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Withhold thy foot from being unshod,.... That it may not be unshod, be naked and bare. The sense is, either, as some, do not take long journeys into foreign countries for help, as into Assyria and Egypt, whither they used to go barefoot; or wore out their shoes by their long journeys, and so returned without; or refrain from idolatry, as Jarchi interprets it, that thou mayest not go naked into captivity; or this is an euphemism, as others think, forbidding adulterous actions, showing the naked foot, the putting off of the shoes, in order to lie upon the bed, and prostitute herself to her lovers; and is to be understood of idolatry:

and thy throat from thirst; after wine, which excites lust; abstain from eager and burning lust after adulterous, that is, idolatrous practices; so the Targum,

"refrain thy feet from being joined with the people, and thy mouth from worshipping the idols of the people.''

The words are paraphrased in the Talmud e thus,

"withhold thyself from sinning, that thy foot may not become naked; (the gloss is, "when thou goest into captivity") refrain thy tongue from idle words, that thy throat may not thirst:''

this was said by the Lord, or by the prophets of the Lord sent unto them, to which the following is an answer:

but thou saidst, there is no hope; of ever being prevailed upon to relinquish those idolatrous practices, or of being received into the favour of God after such provocations: no; I will never refrain from them; I will not be persuaded to leave them:

for I have loved strangers; the strange gods of the nations:

and after them will I go; and worship them; so the Targum,

"I love to he joined to the people, and after the Worship of their idols will I go.''

e T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 77. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

God the true husband exhorts Israel not to run barefoot, and with parched throat, like a shameless adulteress, after strangers.

There is no hope - i. e., It is in vain.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 2:25. Withhold thy foot from being unshod — When it was said to them, "Cease from discovering thy feet; prostitute thyself no more to thy idols."

And thy throat from thirst — Drink no more of their libations, nor use those potions which tend only to increase thy appetite for pollution. Thou didst say, There is no hope: it is useless to advise me thus; I am determined; I have loved these strange gods, and to them will I cleave.