A nation which you have not known: as in Jer 22.15-17, this means a foreign people the Israelites have never had any dealings with (Good News Translation “a foreign nation”).

Eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors: that is, they will either take possession of or destroy all the crops that the Israelites had worked so hard to grow. “Take possession of,” or even “eaten,” is the preferred meaning. Good News Translation has “will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow,” and Contemporary English Version “everything you harvest will be eaten by foreigners.”

You shall be only oppressed and crushed continually: the word only modifies the whole curse; the sense is “all you will get is ceaseless oppression”; New International Version “cruel oppression” expresses the sense well. In a number of languages the active voice will be the preferred style; for example, “they will constantly oppress you and treat you harshly.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .