Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 18:10:
Kupsabiny: “and then that community refuses me and commits sin, I will not do like that.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “and that nation or kingdom will-do wickedness and will- not -obey me, I will- no longer -continue the goodness that I had-planned for them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But if the people of that nation start to do evil things and refuse to obey me, then I will not bless them as I said that I would do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Evil in my sight does not mean “evil where I can see it,” but “what I consider evil.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “what displeases me,” while Good News Translation has simply “evil.” See 7.30.
Not listening to my voice (see 11.4) means “not obeying me” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Good News Translation reverses the order of the first two clauses: “disobeys me and does evil.”
Since good refers back to “build and plant” in verse 9, I will repent of the good which I had intended to do to it may be rendered as in Good News Translation: “I will not do what I said I would.” For repent see verse 8. Translators can say something like “I will change my mind about doing the good things for them that I had intended.”
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 .
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