Thus says the LORD: See 2.2.

Scholars agree that the cup is a symbol of suffering or punishment, which is the basis for Good News Translation “If even those who did not deserve to be punished had to drink from the cup of punishment….” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is somewhat more picturesque: “From the cup, which is filled with my anger….” Bible en français courant translates the text fairly literally, but supplements its translation with a note: “the cup: for this symbol of God’s judgment, see Jer 25.15-29.”

In some languages the rhetorical question will need to be expressed as a statement; for example:

• I made those people who did not deserve punishment drink from the cup of punishment. So surely I will make you drink from it! You will not escape the punishment; you too will drink from that cup.

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 .