You shall not serve is not a future tense, but an imperative, as in “Don’t serve” or, in indirect speech, “who tell you not to serve.”

Prophesying falsely in my name can be expressed as “lying when they say they are speaking on my behalf” or “proclaiming lies, and saying these words are from me.” Compare “prophesying lies in my name” in 14.14.

For verses 14-15, see verses 9-10. There are some differences in the two passages, but the problems of interpretation and of translation are essentially the same. In Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch the two verses read:

• 14 Do not listen to the prophets who say to you: “Do not submit to the king of Babylonia!” They will lead you into trouble. 15 The Lord says: “I have not sent them. They lie when they affirm that they are speaking in my name. If you listen to them, I will drive you out. You will be destroyed, you and the prophets who are lying to you!”

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 .