Behold: See 1.6. Jeremiah is describing his vision, which Good News Translation makes clear by saying “I saw.”

All the women left in the house of the king of Judah refers to all the women who remained in the royal palace. House of the king of Judah may be rendered “Judah’s royal palace” (Good News Translation).

Were being led out to the princes of the king of Babylon: In some languages it may be necessary to use an active construction, as in “soldiers were leading them out to the king of Babylonia’s officers.” It may also be necessary to say something like “They were being led out and turned over to the officials of the king of Babylonia.” Princes is once again “officials” (see verse 17).

Were saying: Some translators have “were saying about you.” It can also be a new sentence: “This is what they were saying about you.”

It would be ideal if the four lines of poetry could be rendered as a “taunt song.” The tone should perhaps be similar to the mocking jeers of children against an unfortunate playmate. Both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch use a third person reference to the king, whereas Revised Standard Version maintains the second person (you) form. The choice of form depends upon what is felt to be most acceptable in the translator’s language.

Your trusted friends is more literally “men of your peace,” reflecting the message of Zedekiah’s advisers who kept telling him “All is well!” New Jerusalem Bible renders “those friends of yours,” attempting to reflect the derogatory nature of Jeremiah’s remarks; Good News Translation has “The king’s best friends” and Revised English Bible “Your own friends.”

Deceived is better expressed as “misled” (so Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). The problem is that deceived carries a sense of intent, whereas “misled” simply suggests bad advice, which is the case here.

Prevailed against: Perhaps Good News Translation “overruled” comes close to the intention of the passage, which indicates that through advice or pressure the king’s friends pushed him into making the wrong decision. “Got their way” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) is a good way of expressing this in English.

Your feet are sunk in the mire: There may be an intentional parallel drawn between the king and the experience of Jeremiah (verse 6). Mire means “mud,” as in Good News Translation. But note that this doesn’t just mean that the king’s feet were muddy or dirty; rather, he was stuck in deep mud in which it was difficult to move.

In the last clause of Revised Standard Version (they turn away from you), it is possible that they may be mistakenly understood to refer back to your feet. In order to avoid this problem, Good News Translation translates they as “his friends.”

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 .