Evil is going forth from nation to nation: Evil refers to “disaster” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible) or “calamity” (New American Bible), as in verse 29. From nation to nation is better as “on one nation after another” (Good News Translation); Revised English Bible has “Ruin spreads from nation to nation.” In some languages it will be more natural to say “In one nation after another, great disasters are going to happen.”

Tempest occurs elsewhere in 23.19; 30.23; Psa 55.8; 83.15; Amos 1.14; Jonah 1.4, 12. It is used in 23.19 to represent the LORD’s anger. The last half of this verse is very similar to 6.22. Here translators can say “The LORD’s anger is growing like a great storm building up at the farthest part of the earth.”

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 .