Jeremiah 32:18

You show unfailing love to thousands. ¹  But you also punish children for the sins of their parents. ²  You are the great and powerful God who is known as the Lord who rules over all. ³ 

You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers’ sins into the laps of their children after them. O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty,

who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The LORD of hosts is His name;

You are loving and kind to thousands, though children suffer for their parents’ sins. You are the great and powerful God, the LORD Almighty.

You're loyal in your steadfast love to thousands upon thousands--but you also make children live with the fallout from their parents' sins. Great and powerful God, named GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies,

You have mercy on thousands, and send punishment for the evil-doing of the fathers on their children after them: the great, the strong God, the Lord of armies is his name:

You show steadfast love to the thousandth generation, but repay the guilt of parents into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of hosts,

‘ You show lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them––the Great, the Mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

You show unfailing love to thousands. ¹  But you also punish children for the sins of their parents. ²  You are the great and powerful God who is known as the Lord who rules over all. ³ 

¹ tn Or “to thousands of generations.” The contrast of showing steadfast love to “thousands” to the limitation of punishing the third and fourth generation of children for their parents’ sins in Exod 20:5-6; Deut 5:9-10; Exod 34:7 has suggested to many commentators and translators (cf., e.g., NRSV, TEV, NJPS) that reference here is to “thousands of generations.” The statement is, of course, rhetorical emphasizing God’s great desire to bless as opposed to the reluctant necessity to punish. It is part of the attributes of God spelled out in Exod 34:6-7.

² tn Heb “pays back into the bosom of their children the sin of their parents.”

³ tn Heb “Nothing is too hard for you who show…and who punishes…the great [and] powerful God whose name is Yahweh of armies, [you who are] great in counsel…whose eyes are open…who did signs…” Jer 32:18-22 is a long series of relative clauses introduced by participles or relative pronouns in vv. 18-20a followed by second person vav consecutive imperfects carrying on the last of these relative clauses in vv. 20b-22. This is typical of hymnic introductions to hymns of praise (cf., e.g., Ps 136) but it is hard to sustain the relative subordination which all goes back to the suffix on “hard for you.” The sentences have been broken up but the connection with the end of v. 17 has been sacrificed for conformity to contemporary English style.