Maidens is literally “virgins,” here referring to the unmarried girls of the Jewish community. See 2.32.

Shall be merry translates the Septuagint rather than the standard Hebrew text, which would mean “also” or “together with them.” There is actually very little difference in meaning with the overall meaning of the first two lines in view.

Good News Translation restructures the last two lines slightly to give a more natural rendering, moving the clause I will comfort them to the beginning of the sentence.

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 .