No stone shall be taken from you for a corner … for a foundation: The imagery of stones, too scorched by fire to be fit for building, is continued in this verse. The stones used for the corner and foundation of a building were the most important. Good News Translation combines the two lines: “None of the stones from your ruins will ever be used again for building.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is probably a better model: “There will be found in you no more stones which can be used either for the foundation or cornerstone.”

Waste translates the same noun first used in 4.27 (Revised Standard Version “desolation”); most recently it appeared in 49.2 (Revised Standard Version “desolate”), 33; 50.13 (Revised Standard Version “desolation”); and it occurs again in verse 62 (Revised Standard Version “desolate”). It is very often rendered “desert.”

Says the LORD: See 1.8. Good News Translation represents this as “I, the LORD, have spoken.” However, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch omits it, because of the occurrence of the clause in verse 25. In certain contexts repetition has a negative impact for modern readers, whereas in Hebrew it was a method of stressing importance.

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 .