Yeremia 2:24-30

2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.

In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. ¹ 

No one can hold her back when she is in heat.

None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.

At mating time she is easy to find. ² 

2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out

and your throats become dry. ³ 

But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me

because I love those foreign gods ⁴  and want to pursue them!’

2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,

so the people of Israel ⁵  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ⁶ 

So will their kings and officials,

their priests and their prophets.

2:27 They say to a wooden idol, ⁷  ‘You are my father.’

They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ ⁸ 

Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ⁹ 

Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ¹⁰  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

2:29 “Why do you try to refute me? ¹¹ 

All of you have rebelled against me,”

says the Lord.

2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.

They did not respond to such correction.

You slaughtered your prophets

like a voracious lion.” ¹² 

[2:24]  ¹ tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:24]  ² sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.

[2:25]  ³ tn Heb “Refrain your feet from being bare and your throat from being dry/thirsty.”

[2:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “It is useless! No!” For this idiom, see Jer 18:12; NEB “No; I am desperate.”

[2:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[2:26]  ⁶ tn The words “for what they have done” are implicit in the comparison and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “wood…stone…”

[2:27]  ⁸ sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”

[2:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”

[2:28]  ¹⁰ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.

[2:29]  ¹¹ sn This is still part of the Lord’s case against Israel. See 2:9 for the use of the same Hebrew verb. The Lord here denies their counter claims that they do not deserve to be punished.

[2:30]  ¹² tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.