As stated above, Bible en français courant has Jeremiah return to speaking in verse 20, so that this verse is a continuation of that. Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, on the other hand, return to Jeremiah here. Some translators will say “Jeremiah continued” or “Jeremiah replied.”

The noun wound is first used in 4.6, where it is translated “destruction.”

For daughter of my people (Good News Translation “my people”), see 4.11.

Is … wounded translates a verb that is derived from the same stem as the noun wound. This is a tender picture: “When I see how my dear people are wounded, I myself am wounded.” Note that Good News Translation uses alternative imagery with “crushed … crushed” to maintain the play on words.

Mourn appears in the same form in 14.2 (Revised Standard Version “lament”); in a slightly different form it is used in 4.28, where Revised Standard Version translates “be black.” This is literally “be dark,” and it could be a reference to the unkempt and dirty appearance of someone who is in mourning and therefore does not wash. Therefore we advise translators to retain “I mourn” or “I am in mourning.”

Dismay is translated “waste” in 2.15, its first occurrence in Jeremiah. Dismay has taken hold of me is more naturally expressed “I am completely dismayed” (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 .