Would it were evening! … Would it were morning! Or “I wish it were day … I wish it were night” (Contemporary English Version). See similar statements in Job 7.4.

The dread which your heart shall fear: they will be filled with fear, with no relief as they look to the future. The vivid language in Good News Translation, “Your hearts will pound with fear,” will be a good model for many translators.

The sights which your eyes shall see: all about them they will see the terrible conditions to which all the Israelites have been subjected.

Translators are urged to examine Good News Translation as a possible model. Contemporary English Version also has a good model:

• Every morning you will wake up to such terrible sights that you will say, “I wish it were night!” And at night you will be terrified and say, “I wish it were day!”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .