On your skirts is not meant to suggest that the accusation is made against women. Rather this reflects the mode of dress for both men and women of that period. In place of skirts it would seem better to use a term that may be used for the clothing of both men and women: “clothes” (Good News Translation, New International Version). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “on the edge of your clothing”; Revised English Bible prefers “on the corners of your robe.” In place of “clothes,” the Septuagint has “hands” (Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt), which represents a Hebrew word of a slightly different spelling from “clothes.” The Traduction œcuménique de la Bible footnote suggests that “on your clothes” would suggest crimes done openly, in the sight of everyone, whereas the alternative possibility would suggest secret crimes.

The lifeblood of guiltless poor probably refers to the terrible oppression of the poor which often resulted in their death, though it may refer to their death by murder. The Septuagint omits poor, by which the reference is either to “murdered prophets or sacrificed children” (Jerusalem Bible footnote). However, it is quite probable that the Septuagint reading is an attempt to make this verse conform to other passages such as 7.6; 19.4; 22.3, 17; 26.15. Luther 1984 (“the blood of the poor and innocent”) may represent an attempt at compromise.

These first two lines of the verse may have to be restructured; for example, “Also, the edges of your clothing are spattered [or, stained] with the blood of the poor and innocent people [that you have killed]” or “Also, the blood of the innocent and poor people [whose deaths you are responsible for] has stained your clothing.”

You did not find them breaking in is more literally “You did not find them in the act of breaking in.” New Revised Standard Version has “you did not catch them breaking in.” The noun translated “in the act of breaking in” is found elsewhere only in Exo 22.2, which serves as the background for the understanding of this expression. According to this law, a man who kills a thief breaking into his house at night is not guilty, whereas he is guilty of murder if he kills a thief during a daylight robbery. But here the persons who have been murdered are the poor and innocent, who are guilty of no crime, not even that of a daylight burglary. This information might need to be given in a footnote, but some translators have put it in the text with “you did not kill them because you caught them breaking into your houses” or “you didn’t have the excuse to shed their blood because they were breaking into your house.” One other way is “that blood didn’t come from people you caught breaking into your houses.”

Yet in spite of all these things represents a Hebrew text that one scholar describes as “incurably corrupt.” The text is so impossible that in Bright’s translation it is left blank with a note indicating that it “cannot be translated.” Among the solutions that have been proposed are:
(1) By a slight modification of the Hebrew, the Septuagint changes all these things to “every oak tree.” This apparently is the basis for Revised English Bible: “You did not get it by housebreaking but by your sacrifices under every oak.”
(2) Another solution is that represented in An American Translation: “Not breaking into houses did you find them, but opposed to all such things.” This is also followed by Luther 1984, but it seems otherwise not to have strong support.
(3) On the assumption that a portion of the Hebrew was unintentionally omitted in the course of copying, one scholar reconstructs it to read: “All of this will come as a curse upon you.” Apparently this solution is followed by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch: “The curse of all this will fall on you.” It is quite possible also that this is the basis for Moffatt: “and for all this I will arraign you.”
(4) The most widely accepted solution is that represented by Revised Standard Version and followed by Good News Translation, New American Bible, New International Version, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. All in all this would seem less problematic than any of the other proposals, though it is still not without its difficulties.

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 .