The works of your hands: The reference may be either to the idols that the people have made or to the things that they have done. Moffatt renders “your practices” and Revised English Bible “your idol-worship.” New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant (“your actions”) follow the interpretation represented in Moffatt, while Good News Translation (“worshiping idols”) accepts the alternative interpretation. New International Version (“what your hands have made”) suggests idolatry, though the translation is somewhat ambiguous. Translators can follow either of the interpretations, or even use a neutral construction such as “the things you do with your hands.”

Be cut off basically means “be destroyed.” See the previous verse.

A curse: See 24.9 (also 25.18; 26.6; 29.22; 42.18; 44.12, 22; 49.13).

A taunt: See 6.10, where Revised Standard Version has “object of scorn.” Good News Translation finds it more natural in English to reverse the order of curse and taunt.

As in the previous verse, the long rhetorical question can either be broken into two (as in Good News Translation), or the thrust can be conveyed by a statement followed by a short question:

• You make me angry by the things you do with your hands, when you offer sacrifices to these other gods here in Egypt where you have come to live. Why do you do it? [or, Is that the right way to behave?] By doing this you will destroy yourselves, and every nation on earth will make fun of you and use your name as a curse. Is that what you want? [or, Why do you want to do that?]

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 .