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.’
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jeremiah reveals Israel's stubborn refusal to return to God by portraying them as saying, "Hopeless! No!" This isn't them admitting despair, but defiantly embracing their path, declaring their love for foreign gods is so absolute that any counsel of return is simply irrelevant to their chosen destiny.
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.’
English Standard Version (ESV)
God, as Israel's faithful husband, pleads with His unfaithful wife to stop pursuing foreign gods, warning her not to wear herself out in fruitless, shameful endeavors. Yet, Israel defiantly declares there's no hope for change, fully embracing their love for "strangers" – other deities and alliances – and resolving to follow them instead. This is the immediate response to God's lament over their repeated betrayals and their turning away from Him to rely on other nations for help.
God calls His people to restraint, urging them to avoid the exhausting, self-inflicted hardships of chasing after foreign lovers. What does this imagery reveal about the true cost of spiritual infidelity?
Jeremiah uses vivid imagery to describe God's plea to His people. He tells them to 'Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst.'
A Journey of Depletion
Think about what that means: Don't wear out your sandals chasing after other gods! Don't let yourself become so parched with thirst that you're desperate for any strange drink.
This isn't just about physical hardship. The scholars suggest this refers to the exhausting, destructive pursuit of idols and foreign alliances. It’s the restless, fruitless wandering that leaves you worn out and desperate, seeking satisfaction from things that can never truly quench your thirst or support your journey.
God's Gentle Plea
God presents Himself as the faithful husband, and the people as a wife who has gone astray. His command is not harsh, but a loving warning against the self-destructive path they've chosen. He's calling them to stop, to cease the frantic search that leads only to ruin.
When God offers a way out, why would anyone declare, 'It is hopeless'? Explore the mindset of a people so lost in their rebellion that they reject any possibility of return.
The people's response is chilling: 'It is hopeless, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.'
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The Fatalism of Sin
This isn't just a statement of fact; it's a declaration of defiant despair. Scholars point out that this phrase, 'It is hopeless,' became a kind of formula for them. It signifies a complete surrender to sin, a belief that there's no point in even trying to turn back.
Chasing Foreign Gods
Their reasoning is stark: 'for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.' The 'strangers' here refer to foreign gods and the allure of other nations and their alliances. They’ve become so captivated by these 'lovers' that they’ve convinced themselves that repentance is impossible and that their only path forward is to continue in this destructive relationship.
Abandoning the True Husband
In the context of God as the faithful husband, this is a profound rejection. It’s like a wife saying to her devoted husband, 'I’m done trying; I’d rather run after other men.' It’s a willful embrace of ruin, a fatalistic resignation to a path that God Himself warns leads to destruction.
Understand the original words
nûš · Hebrew Adjective
Represents the recognition that one has surrendered their will to an evil course of action. It is the tragic admission of a heart so bound by sinful attachments that it believes it is impossible to return to God.
zār · Hebrew Adjective/Noun
In this context, it refers to pagan nations or false gods. Loving 'foreigners' is a metaphor for Israel’s dangerous political and spiritual alliances with nations outside the covenant, which replaced their exclusive devotion to God.
This verse speaks directly to the despair and hardened hearts of Judah during the Babylonian exile, a time when their nation was devastated and their identity shattered after repeated attempts to forge alliances with foreign powers proved disastrous.
c. 722 BC
Fall of the Northern Kingdom
The Assyrian Empire conquers the Northern Kingdom of Israel, leading to the exile of its population and the depopulation of the land. This event serves as a stark warning to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
c. 627 BC
Death of Ashurbanipal
The death of the powerful Assyrian king marks the beginning of the decline of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, creating a power vacuum in the region.
605 BC
First Babylonian Deportation
Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon defeats the Egyptians and Assyrians at Carchemish. He then besieges Jerusalem, exiling some of the Judean elite, including the prophet Daniel.
597 BC
Second Babylonian Deportation
Following a rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar deports more of Judah's population, including King Jehoiachin and the prophet Ezekiel, to Babylon.
586 BC— this verse
Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
After a prolonged siege and further rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and its magnificent Temple, exiling the remaining population to Babylon.
c. 550 BC
Rise of the Persian Empire
Cyrus the Great begins his conquests, eventually leading to the fall of Babylon and the rise of the Persian Empire, which will later allow the Jewish exiles to return.
Hosea also uses the imagery of a wife's unfaithfulness to describe Israel's spiritual adultery with foreign gods, directly paralleling Jeremiah's condemnation.
Isaiah 57:10This passage describes Israel's exhausting pursuit of new lovers (foreign alliances and idols) with a similar weariness and desperation, showing a recurring theme of self-inflicted ruin.
Proverbs 7:10-20This passage vividly portrays the allure and deceptive nature of the 'strange woman,' mirroring the seductive call of foreign gods and practices that Israel couldn't resist, despite the inherent dangers.
Deuteronomy 32:16This text speaks of Israel provoking God by worshipping 'foreign gods,' which directly connects to Jeremiah's accusation that Israel 'loved strangers' and followed after them.
pulpitJeremiah 2:25: "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."
Verse 25. - Withhold thy foot, etc. Hitzig, with unnecessary ingenuity, explains this with reference to the fatiguing practices of the heathen cultus, comparing 1 Kings 18:26, where "vain repetitions" of "Baal, Baal," and (as he thinks) barefoot religious dances, are mentioned as parts of the worship of Baal. Umbreit's vie…
clarkeJeremiah 2:25: "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."
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 use…
Jeremiah reveals Israel's stubborn refusal to return to God by portraying them as saying, "Hopeless! No!" This isn't them admitting despair, but defiantly embracing their path, declaring their love for foreign gods is so absolute that any counsel of return is simply irrelevant to their chosen destiny.
God, as Israel's faithful husband, pleads with His unfaithful wife to stop pursuing foreign gods, warning her not to wear herself out in fruitless, shameful endeavors. Yet, Israel defiantly declares there's no hope for change, fully embracing their love for "strangers" – other deities and alliances – and resolving to follow them instead. This is the immediate response to God's lament over their repeated betrayals and their turning away from Him to rely on other nations for help.
God, as Israel's faithful husband, pleads with His unfaithful wife to stop pursuing foreign gods, warning her not to wear herself out in fruitless, shameful endeavors. Yet, Israel defiantly declares there's no hope for change, fully embracing their love for "strangers" – other deities and alliances – and resolving to follow them instead. This is the immediate response to God's lament over their repeated betrayals and their turning away from Him to rely on other nations for help.
"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.’" — Jeremiah reveals Israel's stubborn refusal to return to God by portraying them as saying, "Hopeless! No!" This isn't them admitting despair, but defiantly embracing their path, declaring their love f…
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Last reviewed October 2026