Israel’s prosperity as a nation now leads it to believe that it is innocent, and that God’s anger has turned from it. Since the abstract thought of anger turning from someone is difficult for some readers, Good News Translation translates “the LORD is no longer angry” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

God is now saying that Israel is saying something: I am innocent. In some languages this would be understood by readers to mean God was innocent. In those cases translators might use indirect speech: “You say that you are innocent and I am no longer angry with you [or, my anger has turned away from you].”

Behold (see 1.6) is introduced here for the sake of emphasis.

If solution (3) above is followed for the textual problem of verse 34, then I will bring you to judgment forms a parallel to that line. Good News Translation assumes that judgment is here equated with punishment, and so translates: “I … will punish you.” In 25.31 the construction bring … to judgment is translated “entering into judgment [with]” by Revised Standard Version and “bring … to trial” by Good News Translation.

It is possible to take I have not sinned as the equivalent of the previous statement I am innocent. Thus Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is enabled to translate the entire verse as “And you still presume to say: ‘I am innocent; the Lord is no longer angry with me!’ Therefore I will bring you to court!” The problem with this solution is that the hearer may interpret “I” to refer back to “me,” and so assume that it is Israel who is taking the LORD to court. Translators can also try “But look, because you say that you have not sinned, I will punish you” or “But I am going to punish you, and it is because you deny you have sinned.”

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 .