Luhith: This site is unknown. But because the text has the ascent, we may assume it is a hill or high place.

As the Revised Standard Version note indicates, they go up weeping is in the standard Hebrew text “they go up weeping with weeping.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project indicates that the expression may be translated in two different ways:
(1) “weeping is added to weeping” or “weeping constantly increases”;
(2) “weeping all the while [as they go up].”

This second interpretation is also the conclusion of New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Weeping continually.” Thus the translation for the first two lines can be “They are weeping all the while as they go up the road to Luhith.” But the context of the verse is such that “On the way up to Luhith people are weeping without ceasing” is also acceptable.

At the descent of Horonaim; that is, “on the road down from Horonaim.” For Horonaim see verses 3, 34.

They have heard the cry of destruction: As the Revised Standard Version note indicates, the cry represents the Septuagint, while the standard Hebrew text has “the distress of the cry.” However, there is no problem in rendering this as “A distressing cry” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “the cries of distress” (Good News Translation). The text states that they, that is, the same people who are weeping in the earlier part of the verse, have heard the cry …. However, the real sense of the verse is that both on the way up to Luhith and on the way down from Horonaim, in other words everywhere, people are crying out in pain and grief.

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 .