Listen is parallel in meaning to incline their ear; see verse 24.

Stiffened their neck translates a biblical idiom meaning “became stubborn” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “obstinate” (New English Bible), or “deliberately resisted” (New Jerusalem Bible). Bassa in Liberia has “hardened their heads.” But stiffened their neck. They did worse than your fathers is translated “you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors” by Good News Translation. The shift is made in Good News Translation to a second person (“you … your”) because of the demands of the discourse structure.

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 .