Clings to the loins of a man is expressed as “fit tightly around the waist” in Good News Translation.

The whole house of Israel and is omitted by a few translations, though it is found in the Hebrew. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project evidently assumes that the support in favor of its inclusion is strong enough to require no comment. As elsewhere, house of Israel and house of Judah refer to the people of those nations.

Cling to me: If the people of Israel had held tightly to the LORD, they would have remained his people and brought honor to him. Most translators try to retain the same wording in the two parts of the comparison (clings and cling). For example, Revised English Bible has “Just as a loincloth is bound close to a man’s body, so I bound all Israel and all Judah to myself.” Bible en français courant has “As a man attaches a belt around his waist … so I attached the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah to me.”

Says the LORD: See 1.8. In many languages such an expression would not be natural in the middle of the verse here, and so translators either drop it or move it to the end of the verse.

That they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory is translated in Good News Translation as “that they would be my people and would bring praise and honor to my name.” As elsewhere, name represents the LORD himself. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “They would be people who bring honor to me and proclaim my glory.” Some translations keep the ideas more distinct, as in “so that they would become my people, and then be the reason [or, source] that people knew me [or, knew about me] and praised and honored me.”

Listen is here used in the sense of “obey” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

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 .