Iniquities translates the same noun rendered “guilt” in 2.22. Revised English Bible expresses the meaning with “But your wrongdoing has upset nature’s order.”

There is no real way to distinguish in meaning between the two nouns iniquities and sins; they appear to be used in a typical Hebrew parallel construction. For some languages it may be better to use only one term: “Instead, your sins have…” (Good News Translation). But as with much parallelism, the second line here does add something to the first: not only have your evil deeds prevented the rains and harvest time, but also they have kept these good things from you.

Good (Good News Translation “good things”) is best taken as a collective reference to the giving of rain and the harvest (verse 24). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes this clear: “… drought and crop failures are the results of your sin!” The whole verse can be expressed as follows:

• But the wrong you have done has prevented these things from happening. Yes, it is your sins that take these good things from you.

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 .