The verb put to shame is used numerous times in Jeremiah; its first occurrence is in 2.26. The text has Let those be put to shame, which is a wish directed to the LORD, asking him to either bring on the disgrace or cause it to happen. Hence Good News Translation has “Bring disgrace.”

For those … who persecute, see “persecutors” in 15.15.

Be dismayed translates the verb first used in 1.17.

In this verse the pronoun me is emphatic in its second and third occurrences, while them is emphatic in its first occurrence. One way to translate this in the first four lines is to say “LORD, bring disgrace on those who are causing me to suffer, not on me [or, don’t disgrace me]. Make them the ones who are filled with terror, not me.”

The day of evil: See verse 17.

Double destruction is best taken as a means of making emphasis: “destroy them, destroy them utterly” (Revised English Bible) and “break them to pieces” (Good News Translation).

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 .