Let not your heart faint is expressed as “Do not lose courage” by Good News Translation and “Be not discouraged” by New American Bible. The expression occurs also in Deut 20.3 and Job 23.16.

Report (all three occurrences) has the meaning of “rumor” (so most all modern translations). The meaning of the last four lines is expressed clearly by Good News Translation: “Every year a different rumor spreads—rumors of violence in the land and of one king fighting another.” Some commentators note that political intrigue and internal strife were characteristic of the Babylonian empire for some years before its fall. For violence see 6.7.

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 .