Lord GOD: See 1.6. For thus says the LORD, see 2.2.

For Behold see 1.6.

There is no way to distinguish between my anger and my wrath. In many languages it will be preferable to translate “my fierce anger” (Good News Translation) or “my terrible wrath.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch uses a single term: “I will pour out my anger….” In some languages it is not normal to say of anger that it will be poured out (see 6.11). One way to restate this is “this place will experience my terrible anger [covering everything like water poured out over it].”

As both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch indicate, this place refers to the temple.

Man and beast can be expressed as “people and animals alike” (Good News Translation).

Trees of the field may be shortened to “trees,” and fruit of the ground is generally understood as “crops.”

The second image in this verse, it will burn and not be quenched, may also need to be changed to a comparison: “My anger will be like a fire that no one can put out” and “It burns like a fire that no one can put out” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). See 4.4.

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 .