The LORD continues to speak to Jeremiah, and to tell him what he should say to the people. Since it is a new paragraph, some translations will require something such as “The LORD also said to Jeremiah.”

For Thus says the LORD, see 2.2.

When men fall can be “When a person falls” or “When people fall.” But note that the shift between the two examples from plural (men … they) to singular (one … he) may not be satisfactory for many languages. Good News Translation uses the singular in both examples (“someone … he”), while Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “one … he.”

Do they not rise again is translated “does he not stand up quickly again?” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. To avoid the difficult negative question form, it is possible to shift to a statement: “When people fall down they immediately get up” or “You know that when people fall down they….” Some languages follow such a statement with “don’t they?”

Turns away … return is taken by Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch in the sense of “misses the road … turn back,” as in “If someone takes the wrong road, doesn’t he go back [to the right one]?” This question can also be rendered as a statement: “When people miss the road, they immediately go back [to take the right road].”

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 .