It should be noted that Good News Translation places verses 31-32 together, to avoid some of the repetition of the Hebrew text.

Send may require an object (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant “this message”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “a message”).

Prophesied: The meaning would be the same as that of verses 26-27: “spoke … as if he were a prophet” (Good News Translation). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has the equivalent of “passed himself off as a prophet.” Another way to say this is “said he had a message from me” or “gave you a message and said it came from me.”

When I did not send him may be rendered “even though I did not send him [to you].”

Trust in a lie: See 28.15.

The message begins with Because. However, in many languages it is more natural to restructure, as in “Shemaiah passed himself off as a prophet even though I did not send him, and made you trust in something that was a lie. For that reason, I the LORD, will punish him….”

For Behold see 1.6.

He shall not have any one living … to see the good that I will do to my people: Good News Translation (“He will have no descendants … He will not live to see…”) follows the Hebrew (see the Revised Standard Version footnote “and he shall not see”). Following the Hebrew, there are two things the LORD is promising, as Good News Translation shows: Shemaiah will not have any descendants left among the people; and he will not live to see the good the LORD is going to do.

Talked rebellion: See 28.16, where Revised Standard Version has “uttered rebellion.”

In these two verses the LORD actually gives two sets of reasons for Shemaiah’s punishment. In verse 31 we learn that he posed as a prophet, and in verse 32 that he told the people to rebel against the LORD. It is more natural in many languages to put these together, as in “I did not send Shemaiah, but he spoke to you as if he were, and he made you believe in a lie. He also encouraged you to rebel against me. Therefore, I the LORD, will punish him….”

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 .