Jeremiah the prophet: It is probably sufficient at this point in the book to say just “Jeremiah.” Of course, translators who have followed Good News Translation in switching to first person will have “me.”

Let our supplication come before you: This is a very unnatural and awkward construction for English readers. The revised rendering of New Revised Standard Version is clear: “Be good enough to listen to our plea.” Good News Translation has “Please do what we ask you,” and New Jerusalem Bible, somewhat more formal, translates “Please hear our petition.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “Fulfill our wish.” All of these are very polite forms for making a request. For supplication see 37.20, where Revised Standard Version has “humble plea.”

The LORD your God: The text has your God, which Good News Translation has rendered “our God.” In this whole passage, Jeremiah speaks of “your God” when talking to the people, and they use “your God” when speaking to him (except for verse 6). For this reason, “our God” may be more natural, although most versions have not felt the need to make this change.

This remnant (see 6.9) refers to the people themselves, as is made clear in the parenthetical statement that follows. In Good News Translation all this remnant is translated by the phrase “all of us who have survived.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch simply uses the pronoun “us,” followed by the statement, “We were once many; but as you see, only a few of us remain.”

The expression in the text, as your eyes see us, is an example of one part of the body (your eyes) representing the whole person. Hence “as you can see” (Good News Translation) is clearer for most readers.

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 .