Heed my words may be better expressed as “obey my message” (compare Good News Translation).

Persistently: Except for 26.5 (“urgently”), Revised Standard Version always renders the Hebrew word in this way (7.13, 25; 11.7; 25.3, 4; 32.33; 35.14, 15; 44.4). Which I persistently sent is rendered by Good News Translation as “that I kept on sending.”

As elsewhere, would not listen means “refuse to obey” or “refuse to pay attention.”

Note that rather than shifting between third person they and second person you, Good News Translation uses third person throughout even though this goes against the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project.

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 .