If wheat is not known, translators may use a more general term, such as “grain” or “crops.”

They have tired themselves out may be taken either of the activity of planting (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “they have planted”) or of sifting the harvest (Revised English Bible “they sift”). It is also possible that the verb has a broader and more general meaning: “they have worked hard” (Good News Translation) or “they tired themselves from hard work.” For this whole line one commentator has “they wear themselves out to no avail.”

The reason they shall be ashamed of their harvests is that the harvests will be very small. Revised English Bible has “Their harvest is a disappointment to them,” which could also be expressed as “They will be disappointed by their [small] harvest.” As the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, their represents “your” of the Hebrew. Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible also provide a footnote indicating the shift in pronouns, whereas Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch assume the shift may be made on translational grounds. New International Version retains the third person pronoun “they” in the first half of the verse, followed by the second person “your”; however, in English this usage is very unnatural. Bible en français courant uses second person throughout the verse and renders this line as “Shame on you because of this harvest!”

For fierce anger, see 4.8.

Good News Translation changes the order of the clauses in the last sentence: “Because of my fierce anger their crops have failed.”

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 .