Says the LORD: See 1.8. Good News Translation moves it to the end of the verse, which is more natural in English.

There is hope for your future: The return of the Israelites from captivity is the beginning of a new time of hope in contrast to Rachel’s mournful cry. Future can be expressed as “descendants” or “posterity” (Revised English Bible).

Your children is equivalent to “they” at the end of the previous verse. In many languages it will be necessary to put “your children” first, that is in verse 16, followed by the pronoun reference in this verse.

Country: The word may mean “border” or “territory” (see elsewhere in 5.22 [Revised Standard Version “bound”]; 15.13; 17.3). Revised English Bible has “within their own borders.” However, “homeland” or “own country” is a more natural expression, and the meaning is essentially the same.

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 .

And is a transition, rendered by some as “So,” although Good News Translation finds it unnecessary in English.

My cousin: On translational grounds Good News Translation omits this definition, since it is stated earlier.

Weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver: More literally this is “weighed out to him the silver seven shekels and ten the silver.” However, an overly literal rendering of the text would be very awkward for English readers. As this passage indicates, a shekel was originally a weight (about 11.5 grams or 0.4 of an ounce), so Jeremiah paid about 200 grams or seven ounces of silver for the field. Coins did not come into general use until after the exile. Moreover, we have no way of determining the comparative value of the silver in Jeremiah’s day or the size of the field, whether large or small. For this reason, it is best not to try to translate in terms of modern currencies. Good News Translation renders “Seventeen pieces of silver.” Weighed out will be difficult for many readers, and translators may say instead “paid.” Bible en français courant has “paid the price: seventeen pieces of silver.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• So I bought the field [at Anathoth] from him, paying him seventeen pieces of silver.

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 .

In the present context great evil may be rendered as “disaster” (Good News Translation) or “complete and total disaster” (New Jerusalem Bible). See 16.10.

Many translators will find it more natural to render the collective noun this people with a plural, “these people” (Good News Translation).

In Hebrew the pronoun I (in its last two occurrences) is emphatic. In English translators can convey the emphasis by saying something like “so it will be I who give them all the good things that I myself have promised.”

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 .

Jeremiah the prophet: It may not be necessary at this stage in the book to identify Jeremiah as the prophet. Good News Translation shifts to a first person reference for Jeremiah.

Spoke all these words is rendered “repeated all these words” by New Jerusalem Bible. New American Bible renders “told all these things” and Good News Translation “gave this message.”

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 .

Scribe: The term refers to those who write down or copy what someone asks them to. Good News Translation “secretary” is appropriate. See verse 26, where Revised Standard Version renders this word “secretary.”

The son of Neriah: This information may not be necessary, since Baruch’s father has previously been identified (verse 4).

At the dictation of: See verse 4.

Burned in the fire: See verse 23.

Many similar words were added to them may need to be restructured as an active; for example, “similar messages that I dictated to him” (Good News Translation) and “Jeremiah added many similar words to it” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

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 .

The men: In some languages it will be natural to repeat the number, as in “the thirty men.”

With him: In many languages this information is probably best left out, since it is clear from the context.

The house of the king is the royal palace.

A wardrobe of the storehouse represents a slight alteration of the Hebrew text. The Hebrew is literally “to under the treasury,” so New International Version has “to a room under the treasury.” This is recommended by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. The word “treasury” could easily be used of a storage place for valuables of different types. One of the problems, of course, is that we are not familiar with the architectural details of the palace. New American Bible has “to the linen closet” and New Jerusalem Bible “to the Treasury wardrobe.” Good News Translation has “to the … storeroom.” Any of these solutions would seem to be satisfactory, given that our knowledge is limited.

Old rags and worn-out clothes: Good News Translation compresses this by using only “some worn-out clothing.”

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 .

The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: See 1.4.

While he was shut up in the court of the guard: Since this refers to what happened in an earlier episode, Good News Translation adds the word “still,” which may be a helpful model for many translators. Shut up in is more precisely “imprisoned in” (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 .