See verse 30 for a discussion of who is speaking in this verse. Since it is most likely the LORD and not Nebuchadnezzar, then Good News Translation “Come on! We’ll attack…” is not recommended. Instead, translators can say, for example:

• Go on and attack this nation. They feel safe and secure, they have no city with barred gates to protect it, and they have no allies nearby.

Rise up, advance against: See verse 28.

A nation at ease, that dwells securely: See the Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch rendering above. Good News Translation renders “those people that feel safe and secure.”

Says the LORD: See 1.8.

That has no gates or bars is a reference to cities with “barred gates” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) that other nations have for their protection.

That dwells alone: The meaning would seem to be that they had no powerful neighbors they could call upon for help (Good News Translation “completely unprotected”). “It has no allies nearby” is also a good model.

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 .