In the last two verses of the section (Jeremiah 4:27–28), the Lord affirms the vision Jeremiah has been given of the judgment that is about to come on Judah. Indeed, the whole land shall be a desolation.
The words that follow therefore seem to be out of place. The Lord says, yet I will not make a full end.
Some commentators have therefore amended the Hebrew and removed the negative so that these words then translate as I will make her a total destruction.
In this reading the Lord is therefore affirming the comprehensive nature of the judgment that is coming. This fits also with what the Lord says next in Jeremiah 4:28.1 However, in Jeremiah 30:11 the Lord says, Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.
The Lord makes a similar promise regarding his judgment of Israel in Leviticus 26:44. It seems better to not remove the negative from Jeremiah 4:27 (and from Jeremiah 5:10, Jeremiah 5:18 where the Lord makes a similar statement).2 The Lord is not softening the devastating nature of the judgment that Jeremiah has seen in his vision in Jeremiah 4:23–26, but he is saying that as terrible as that judgment will be, it will not bring about an end to his purpose of restoring his blessing, not just to Israel, but to the whole world. This phrase also possibly hints at the idea of a faithful remnant that the Lord will leave to continue the line of his covenant people.3
27 Car ainsi parle l'Eternel: Tout le pays sera dévasté; Mais je ne ferai pas une entière destruction.