As previously noted, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch places a section heading before verses 23-25: “Jeremiah prays for his people.”

The two clauses of this verse mean essentially the same thing: “No human person has absolute control over his own destiny.” In Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch the verse is rendered as follows: “Lord, I see that a man’s fate is not in his own hands. It is not he who determines his way of life.” Bible en français courant has “Lord, I know that man is not capable of living [or, conducting his life] as he should; he doesn’t have the means to direct his steps in the right direction.” This rendering gives a slightly different interpretation from that of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, but either is acceptable. Note, however, that the reference here is not exclusively to males.

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 .