Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord: Most languages have a word or expression for Blessed. The meaning is to ask God to give prosperity and happiness to someone. Here Blessed is translated “I will bless” by Good News Translation, since the speaker is the LORD. For this line translators could also say “I will do good things for the person who trusts in me” or “The person who trusts in me will receive prosperity and happiness.” For man see verse 5.

Who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is in the LORD may be combined, as in Good News Translation “who puts his trust in me.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “who puts his trust in me, the Lord.”

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 .