My soul is the equivalent of the first person pronoun “I” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Similarly, in many languages my eyes will be rendered “I.”

For your pride means “on account of your pride.” Good News Translation has “because of your pride.”

Weep bitterly represents an intensified form of the verb “cry” in the Hebrew, where it is repeated.

The LORD’s flock: This is a reference to the LORD’s people, as Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch indicate. Some translators retain the image: “the LORD’s people, who he cares for like a shepherd [cares for] his flock.”

In languages where the passive “the LORD’s people have been taken away as captives” (Good News Translation) is not the most natural structure, translators may have to use an active construction with an agent; for example, “enemies have taken the LORD’s people away as captives.”

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 .