While the repetition of the words answer me is redundant, it serves to underline the pleading of the prophet. Both occurrences should be retained in the receptor language unless it is considered very unnatural to do so.

Thou hast turned their hearts back: New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “You have turned their hearts backward,” and then indicates in a footnote that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. As the footnote in Good News Translation indicates, the Hebrew expression may be understood to mean either “you are bringing them back to yourself” or “you yourself made them turn away from you.” The form of the Hebrew verb may be understood as referring to past action or to present action, although it is probably more natural to understand the form of the verb in this context as referring to past action.

For many readers today, the interpretation expressed in the text of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation makes better sense in this context than the alternate interpretation expressed in the Good News Translation footnote since it is difficult to think that God was the one who turned the hearts of the Israelites away from him. Compare also “it is you who have brought them back to their allegiance” (Revised English Bible), “you have brought them back to their senses” (New American Bible), and “you … are winning back their hearts” (New Jerusalem Bible). But despite the wide acceptance of this interpretation, it is far from certain that the original readers would have found the alternate interpretation to be a problem in their understanding of how God deals with his people. Translators must choose the interpretation that seems better in the context. A footnote giving the other alternative could be considered.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .