Thus says the LORD (see 2.22) is an emphatic way of indicating that the LORD is speaking. But since this is already known, the statement becomes rather awkward for many readers. Because Good News Translation uses the first person for the LORD in the last part of verse 20, this information is clearly understood without being repeated in the Good News Translation rendering.

Lives translates a word that is frequently rendered “souls.” The root meaning of the word is “throat” or “breath,” and it may be used with the meaning “person” or “life.” Here the reference is to the physical lives of the people.

Good News Translation renders Take heed for the sake of your lives with “if they love their lives.” Other ways to express this are “if you value your lives” and “if you want to keep on living.”

Do not bear a burden on the sabbath day: Obedience to the law of the Sabbath is viewed as a key issue in determining the people’s loyalty to the LORD. Do not bear a burden can also be expressed as “Don’t carry any load.” For sabbath day translators should avoid the words for “Sunday” and for “Saturday.” In contexts such as this it is more important to focus on the function of the day with a phrase such as “day of rest.” But if there is already such a day in a culture, as when the weekly market day is known as “day of rest,” then translators can say “day of rest of the Jews.” Other possibilities include “the Jews’ holy day” or “the Jewish day of honoring [or, worshiping] God.”

The LORD goes on to say that not only should the people not carry a load on the Sabbath, but they should also not bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Translators can express this as “not bring [or, take] it into the city of Jerusalem” or “not carry it into Jerusalem through the gates.”

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 .