Good News Translation understands this verse to be a parenthetical explanation of the previous verse. The vision of Jeremiah, expressed in poetry, continues in verse 28. Consequently this verse is in prose, and is placed in parentheses. This seems quite logical; however, most translations have simply continued with the poetry. Whether to use first person or third, as elsewhere, will depend on what is the more natural in the language.

Desolation, used some fifteen times in the book of Jeremiah, normally indicates a destructive event of tremendous proportions which causes horror in those who see the aftereffects. The noun is derived from the verb translated “Be appalled” by Revised Standard Version in 2.12. Consequently translators can say “What happens to the land will cause people to be appalled [or, horrified]” or “The land will be so desolate it will cause great shock.”

Yet I will not make a full end (compare 5.10) is taken by the majority of commentators as a later insertion into the Hebrew text, added to ease the harshness of the previous statement. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the LORD’s words as “The entire land will become a desert, but I will not completely destroy it.” However, another interpretation is that this expression means “and none of it shall I remake,” which certainly fits the context well.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .