For this can be “For this reason” or “Therefore.”

Wearing sackcloth (see also 6.26; 48.37; 49.3) was a sign of sorrow and remorse, as the verbs lament and wail indicate. Sackcloth does not necessarily mean clothing made from sacks or the material used to make sacks, although it has sometimes been translated that way. “Clothing of coarse [or, rough] cloth” might be better. Often translators add “to show sorrow or repentance,” or even render it as “mourning clothes,” but in this verse lament and wail make that sufficiently clear without any addition. Thus one way to render these first two lines is “Therefore put on your clothing of coarse cloth, and cry out in your grief and sorrow.”

The expression fierce anger occurs also in Jeremiah 4.26; 12.13; 25.37, 38; 30.24; 49.37; 51.45. The Hebrew construction gives the sense of the strongest possible anger. For some languages it may be impossible to say fierce anger … has not turned back. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “The Lord is still angry with us!”

Whether to say that the LORD is angry with “you,” “us,” or “Judah” will depend on what translators have been doing throughout this passage. Some believe that it is Jeremiah speaking in this verse, and therefore prefer “us.” Or it could still be the heralds or messengers first discussed in verse 5. In any of these cases, it is against Judah that the LORD’s anger is directed, and translators should render this in whichever way would be most clear for their 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 .