Go, … proclaim … say are commands given to Jeremiah, as Good News Translation makes clear. Says the LORD was discussed at 1.8. In this verse, one way to make clear who is saying what would be: “Go and proclaim this message toward the north. Tell them that I the LORD say this to them, ‘Return [to me], unfaithful Israel.’ ”

The north here would mean Assyria, where the people of Israel were led off as captives after the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. Good News Translation omits the phrase toward the north, but an accurate translation would seem to require its inclusion. If a literal rendering seems unnatural, because perhaps we need some more concrete object than the north, then translators might say “to those [people] who are in the north” or even “to those who are now in the country to the north.”

As previously indicated in verse 6, the verb Return and the adjective faithless come from the same stem in Hebrew and so indicate a play on words.

I will not look on you in anger translates the Hebrew idiom, “I will not cause my face to fall on you.” Through the use of “frown,” Moffatt, New Jerusalem Bible, and Revised English Bible attempt to retain something of the Hebrew expression: “I will not frown on you” (Moffatt). In Gen 4.5 a similar expression occurs, where “his countenance [face] fell” is used in parallel with “was very angry.” If translators can retain something of the Hebrew idiom in a natural way, they should. But otherwise they may have to render this simply as “I will not be angry with you.”

Merciful translates an adjective used of God only here and in Psa 145.17, where it is translated “kind” by Revised Standard Version; the related noun is translated “devotion” in 2.2 (see there). Revised English Bible renders this “my love is unfailing,” which conveys the meaning better than “merciful.” This is also often rendered as “steadfast love.”

I will not be angry for ever is literally “I will not keep [anger] forever” (see verse 5). The statement is parallel in meaning to, and thus serves to intensify I will not look on you in anger. There are some languages that will need to say “be angry with you” to make it clear it is not just anger in general which God is speaking about.

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 .