Going in and out is a Hebrew way of indicating freedom of movement. “Moving about freely” (as in Good News Translation) is certainly more natural in English.

Prison is literally “house of prison,” also a Hebrew way of speaking.

Good News Translation reverses the order of the two clauses in this verse, in order to put them in their proper sequence in time: “I had not yet been put in prison and was still moving about freely among the people.” New American Bible and New Living Translation also follow this restructuring. Translators should do whichever is the more natural in their language.

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 .