Your people (New International Version “the people”; An American Translation “men”) apparently represents a departure from the Hebrew, which has the masculine plural form of “you” (New English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), while Good News Translation, New American Bible, and Moffatt have “they.” The assumption is that the second masculine plural form may have been influenced by verse 18, and does not suit the context. But once again the shift in biblical Hebrew between “they” and “you” (plural) is not so drastic as in English. It would then seem quite legitimate to make a translational shift to a third person form, as a number of translations have done, without feeling the necessity of a textual note. See verses 14, 31.

Why … to us? is a question addressed to Jeremiah, as is shown by the use of the second person singular pronoun in the clause you shall say to them. Good News Translation introduces “Jeremiah” into the text. Translators could also say “And when the people ask you, ‘Why….’ ”

Forsaken is translated “turned away from” by Good News Translation; this verb occurs quite frequently in Jeremiah, and is first used in 1.16.

Served is first used in 2.20, where Good News Translation translates it with the meaning “worship.” Here there is an evident play on ideas (served foreign gods in your land … serve strangers in a land that is not yours), and so it may be best to retain the literal “serve” (so also Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Revised English Bible). For gods see 1.16.

As the New English Bible footnote indicates, strangers (Moffatt, New International Version “foreigners”) may refer to “foreign gods.” However, this interpretation is not favored by most translators and commentators. The intended contrast may be stated as follows: “By choice you worshiped foreign gods in your own land, but now you will be forced to serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.”

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 .