Sons (in both occurrences) obviously includes women as well as men, with the meaning “people” (Good News Translation). Sons of Israel occurs twice in the text, but this will not be natural in many languages. Translators can use “These people” to begin a second sentence in the verse.

Have done nothing but evil in my sight is more literally “are indeed doers of evil in my eyes.” Good News Translation (and also New Jerusalem Bible) has probably strayed too far from the text by rendering “have displeased me,” since the essential sense of evil would be better expressed more directly. The evil the people have done has been in my sight. Some translators have tied this to evil as follows: “things that I consider evil.” Compare 7.30 and 18.10. However, the idea here is more “evil in my presence.”

From their youth: Good News Translation has “from the very beginning of their history,” and places this phrase at the beginning, which is normal for a reference to time in English sentence structure.

Provoke me to anger is more natural, at least for readers of English, if rendered “made me angry” (Good News Translation). See the previous verse.

The work of their hands; that is, “their actions” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “their deeds” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Good News Translation renders “what they have done,” though the reference may be to idolatry in particular (so Revised English Bible), since this phrase does occur elsewhere in that sense (see 1.16).

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 .