Jeremiah now draws a sharp contrast between those prophets who rely upon their own dreams and those who have an actual message from the LORD.

Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream means “The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream” (Good News Translation). A formal equivalent (as in most versions) actually says the opposite of what is intended.

The clause let him who has my word speak my word faithfully means “the person I gave a message to should deliver it faithfully.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes the meaning of the first part of the verse clear: “The prophet who has had a dream can only tell his dream; but the one to whom I myself have spoken may faithfully proclaim my message.”

What has straw in common with wheat? draws a sharp contrast between the message of the false prophet as straw and that of the one who speaks the LORD’s message as wheat. In Hebrew has … in common with translates a preposition, the force of which may be expressed in other ways as well. New English Bible has “What has chaff to do with grain?” which is similar to the renderings of An American Translation, New International Version, and New American Bible. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “A person may still distinguish between wheat and straw!” Good News Translation “What good is straw compared with wheat?” and Bible en français courant “One does not confuse straw with grain.” Another model that uses a statement instead of a question is “Straw and wheat [or, grain] are not alike.”

Says the LORD: See 1.8.

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 .