There is a cause and result relationship between the first two clauses of the verse: I will grant you mercy (cause) and that he may have mercy on you (result). New Jerusalem Bible has expressed the relationship well with “I shall take pity on you, so that he pities you,” as has Good News Translation with “Because I am merciful, I will make him have mercy on you.”

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 .

Thus says the LORD: See 2.2.

The LORD of hosts: See 2.19.

Behold: See 1.6.

Set my face against you for evil: See 21.10.

Cut off all Judah: See verses 7-8 and 11.19.

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 .

Advance, O horses, and rage, O chariots: Whatever the picture is in verse 4, the picture here is that of horses and chariots (see 4.13). The command to start the battle is addressed directly to them. For some translators it is more natural to command the soldiers riding horses and the soldiers driving chariots to go forward. Translators can either say something similar to Good News Translation, or possibly “Order the horse riders and chariot drivers to advance for battle.”

Let the warriors go forth: This can be expressed as “Send forward the soldiers.” They are identified by where they come from: Ethiopia, Put, Lud. Many languages use a colon or a dash for the start of a list, and this serves to show the relation between warriors and men of Ethiopia …. But it will be better for some translators to say instead something such as “Send out the soldiers. Send them out, these men of Ethiopia and Libya carrying their shields, and these archers of Lydia.”

Ethiopia: See 38.7.

Put (Good News Translation “Libya”) was a territory in north Africa, west of Egypt.

Lud (Good News Translation “Lydia”) was probably in the same geographical region.

For skilled in handling the bow, refer to “archer” in 4.29.

It seems most probable that the soldiers referred to were mercenaries (“hired soldiers,” verse 21) in the service of the king of Egypt.

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 .

A wild ass (Good News Translation “a wild desert donkey”) translates the Septuagint, which represents a somewhat different form of the text than the standard Hebrew, which has the word ʿaroʿer. The Hebrew word is actually a juniper bush (a type of desert shrub), as in 17.6 (Revised Standard Version “shrub”), and this is the rendering proposed by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. Thus the translation could be “Be like a bush [or, shrub] in the desert.” If the image of wild ass is kept, refer to 2.24.

Note that Good News Translation inserts the words “they say” to indicate that these are the words the people of Moab are shouting to each other.

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 cities: This is the rendering of most translations, though New International Version transliterates the Hebrew as “Kerioth,” the name of a city.

The strongholds: Used elsewhere in Jeremiah only in 51.30, the word means a place difficult to access (see 1Sam 23.14).

The passives shall be taken and seized may need to be made into active constructions, as in “The enemy will capture the cities and the fortresses.”

The heart of the warriors … like the heart of a woman in her pangs: The fear experienced by Moab’s soldiers is compared to that of a woman in labor. Good News Translation is a good model: “On that day Moab’s soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labor.”

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 .

Her young men shall fall in her squares: The expression shall fall means that they will be killed, that is, “the enemy will kill her young men.” In her squares is rendered “in the city streets” by Good News Translation. See 5.1; 9.21; 48.38; 50.30.

The passive all her soldiers shall be destroyed can be expressed as “they will kill all her soldiers.” The second line of the verse probably adds to the first; a model that brings this sense out is “Her young men [inexperienced soldiers?] will fall in the streets and die. Her warriors will all be killed” (New Living Translation).

In many languages the indication of the time, in that day, will more naturally be first in the sentence, as in Good News Translation.

Says the LORD: See 1.8. Good News Translation moves this to the end of verse 27.

The LORD of hosts: See 2.19.

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 .

Although it is possible to retain the singular for Israel in this verse (Israel … his … he … his), it does represent collectively the people of Israel, and the plural may be more natural: “The people of Israel … their … they … their.”

To his pasture retains the metaphor of the sheep; the reference is to the land of the people of Israel.

He shall feed on … also continues the metaphor of sheep. Good News Translation renders “They will eat the food that grows….” Carmel (46.18), Bashan (22.20), Ephraim (31.6), and Gilead (8.22) were former territories of the northern kingdom. The LORD promises to restore the people of Israel to their land.

The text goes on to say his desire shall be satisfied, which is to say, he [or, the people] will eat all they want.

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 .