Passage
because they have not hearkened to my words, saith Jehovah, wherewith I sent unto them my servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah 29:19 (DBY)
Nearby Context
Jeremiah 29:17 thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will send against them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like the vile figs, that cannot be eaten for badness.
Jeremiah 29:18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will give them over to be driven hither and thither into all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an execration, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I will drive them:
Jeremiah 29:19 because they have not hearkened to my words, saith Jehovah, wherewith I sent unto them my servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah 29:20 But ye, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon, hear the word of Jehovah.
Jeremiah 29:21 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsehood unto you in my name: Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall smite them before your eyes.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "hearkened", "words", "saith", "jehovah", "wherewith", "sent", "servants", and "prophets". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hearkened" and "words", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 18's "And I will pursue them with the..." into verse 20's "But ye all ye of the captivity...", so "hearkened" and "words" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hearkened" and "words" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.