Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD: Translators will have to find how this can be a natural part of the discourse, since it repeats the double introduction of verses 1-2 and comes as an interruption to the flow of the whole message here. One possibility is to say “But here is a message for you.” Another is to do as Good News Translation has done and put this at the end of verse 5 where it closes the direct speech.

Thus says the LORD: See 2.2.

Behold: See 1.6.

Built … breaking down … planted … plucking up: See 1.10.

That is, the whole land indicates that the breaking down and plucking up applies to the whole land. Baruch must be made aware that the LORD himself is about to destroy the nation he has built. The whole land may mean the land or the country of Judah; but Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Contemporary English Version, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible have “earth” instead of “land” here, referring to the whole world. Good News Translation expresses this phrase with a separate sentence, “I will do this to the entire earth.”

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 .