The destroyer shall come upon every city: The destroyer (see 6.26) is a reference to the destructive force of the invading army, as in “The enemy who destroyed everything will come upon every city” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Good News Translation restructures the first two lines rather radically: “Not a town will escape the destruction.” Another good model is “The enemy who destroys will attack every city; not one will escape.”

The text goes on to say that the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; that is, “This enemy will ruin both the valleys and the plains.” For valley and plain, see 21.13.

As the LORD has spoken: This will all happen “just as the LORD has spoken” or “because the LORD has spoken.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible links this statement with what is coming in verse 9, but most others make it the conclusion of this verse.

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 .