For thus says the LORD, see 2.2.

Hurt (see 10.19), which New Jerusalem Bible renders “wound” and New English Bible “injury,” is translated “disaster” by Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, though with a note that the translator is tempted to render it more literally as “break” or “fracture.” The same word occurs again in verse 15.

For incurable see 15.18.

Wound is first used in 6.7.

Grievous occurs only four other times in the Old Testament: Isa 17.11 (Revised Standard Version “incurable”); Jer 10.19; 14.17; Nahum 3.19. Except in the Isaiah passage, it is always used of a wound, and the meaning is consistently “can’t heal.” For many speakers of English, as well as of other languages, it is diseases that are “cured,” and wounds can only “be healed.” In such cases translators might say for the last two lines “Your wounds are untreatable; they can’t be healed” or “Your wounds are so serious they can’t be healed.”

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 .