In this verse the writer of Jeremiah quotes Hananiah directly as he quotes the LORD. In many languages readers will find it easier to follow if the first level of quotation is indirect, as in Good News Translation “told me that the LORD … had said: ‘I have broken….’ ”

The LORD of hosts: See 2.19.

I have broken the yoke: Good News Translation drops the imagery and renders “I have broken the power.” Bible en français courant retains it, but interprets with “I broke the dominion which the king of Babylonia imposed like a yoke.” For yoke see 2.20 and the introduction to chapter 27.

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 .

I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence: It may be unnatural to say pursue them with war, starvation, or disease. Translators can use an expression such as “I will continue to afflict [or, continue to harass] them with disease….” For sword, famine, and pestilence, see 14.12.

Horror: See 15.4.

Curse: See 24.9, where the Hebrew text uses a different word for “curse,” but one with the same sense as here.

Terror: See 2.15 (Revised Standard Version “waste”) and 25.9 (Revised Standard Version “horror”).

Hissing: See 18.16 and 19.8 (Revised Standard Version “thing to be hissed at”).

Reproach: See 6.10 (Revised Standard Version “object of scorn”).

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 .

It will probably be best to introduce a new sentence with this verse, as in Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, and New American Bible: “It will not be like….”

Fathers is better rendered “ancestors” (Good News Translation). See 2.5.

To bring them out of may include the sense that the LORD intended to lead them out, but not necessarily that he did so, and so the text may be better translated “and led them out of” (Good News Translation). See 2.6.

My covenant which they broke: Again, it may be more natural to start a new sentence here; for example, “They broke that covenant” or “They did not do what they were supposed to in that covenant.”

I was their husband: It is possible, as in Good News Translation, to change this figure to a simile, “I was like a husband to them.” However, the noun rendered husband (Hebrew baʿal) may also mean “Lord” or “master,” which is the basis for New Jerusalem Bible “I was their Master.” New American Bible is similar, as is Bright (“I was their Lord”). Without a note, Revised English Bible renders “I was patient with them,” which may be an attempt to represent the Septuagint. The literal reading of the Septuagint is “I did not care for them,” which also may be arrived at by changing the initial consonant of the Hebrew word.

Says the LORD: See 1.8.

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 .

Behold: See 1.6. Here translators can say “So, look. Now the Babylonians….”

Siege mounds have come up to the city to take it: Siege mounds are apparently in a position where the enemy can easily attack the wall. In many languages it will be impossible to refer to inanimate objects such as siege mounds doing anything on their own. Good News Translation has “The Babylonians have built siege mounds around the city to capture it.” If siege mounds (see 6.6) need further description, translators can also express the meaning of the sentence as “The Babylonians have built mounds around the city so they can attack it and capture it.”

Because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans: For sword as the equivalent of “war” (Good News Translation), see 5.12. Sword and famine and pestilence first occur as a unit at 14.12. Rather than using these impersonal terms, translators may find it better to say “Because the people will suffer from war, famine [or, starvation] and disease, the Babylonians will be able to capture the city.” As elsewhere in this passage, Chaldeans can be rendered by “Babylonians.” See 21.4.

What thou didst speak has come to pass, and behold, thou seest it: In Good News Translation the order of clauses is changed (“You can see that all you have said has come true”). Jerusalem Bible renders “What you have said is now fulfilled, as you see,” and New Jerusalem Bible is still clearer with “What you said has now come true, as you see.”

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 .

For Behold see 1.6.

The days are coming: Good News Translation has “The time is coming.” See 7.32.

Fulfil the promise is literally “perform the good word.” Translators can also say “do what I promised.” See 29.10.

The house of Israel and the house of Judah may be combined into “the people of Israel and Judah” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). See 5.11.

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 .

For Behold see 1.6.

I will command: It may be necessary to indicate who the LORD gives this command to, “the army of the king of Babylonia,” and also what he commands, as in “I will order the army of the king of Babylonia to return to this city.”

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

Burn it with fire: See verse 2.

I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant: See 9.11. For desolation see 4.27. Good News Translation translates “I will make the towns of Judah like a desert where no one lives.”

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 .