Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not fear him: Here again, the repetition of the Hebrew text is unnatural for English speakers. Good News Translation much more effectively has “Stop being afraid of the king of Babylonia,” and Bible en français courant is similar; however, these translations do not quite render of whom you are afraid. New Revised Standard Version translates this “as you have been,” and Revised English Bible has “whom you now fear.”

The two verbs save and deliver may also be taken as meaning the same thing: “I will rescue you from his power” (Good News Translation).

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 .