It was not for destruction means “It was not for them [your enemies] to destroy you.”

You were sold to the nations: For the selling of God’s people, compare Isa 50.1 and 52.3. It is a metaphor, of course, a figure of speech drawn from the practice of slavery (see Lev 25.39; Deut 28.68). The meaning is much the same as that of “gave … into subjection” or “handing … over to the control of” in Bar 2.4 (see the comments there). The one understood as doing the “selling” is God. Although Isa 50.1 speaks openly of God selling his people, if the metaphor is in danger of being taken literally, with God somehow receiving payment of some kind, it should be avoided with the use of “handed over” or a verb with a similar meaning. We may translate the first two lines as follows in languages that do not have the passive voice: “God did not hand you over to the control of foreign people for them to destroy you.” For other ways to translate the nations, see the comments on Bar 2.13.

You were handed over to your enemies: This line repeats the thought of the previous line. The one doing the action is again God.

The point of this whole verse is that the people are in exile because God is punishing them, not because he intends to destroy them. An alternative translation model is:

• God did not hand you over to the control of foreign nations for them to destroy you, but he gave you to your enemies because you had made him angry.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.