Jeremiah 35

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

²Go into the house of the Rechabites, and have talk with them, and take them into the house of the Lord, into one of the rooms, and give them wine.

³Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and all the Rechabites;

⁴And I took them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the rulers' room, which was over the room of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door;

⁵And I put before the sons of the Rechabites basins full of wine and cups, and I said to them, Take some wine.

⁶But they said, We will take no wine: for Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, gave us orders, saying, You are to take no wine, you or your sons, for ever:

⁷And you are to make no houses, or put in seed, or get vine-gardens planted, or have any: but all your days you are to go on living in tents, so that you may have a long life in the land where you are living as in a strange country.

⁸And we have kept the rules of Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, in everything which he gave us orders to do, drinking no wine all our days, we and our wives and our sons and our daughters;

⁹Building no houses for ourselves, having no vine-gardens or fields or seed:

¹⁰But we have been living in tents, and have done everything which Jonadab our father gave us orders to do.

¹¹But when Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came up into the land, we said, Come, let us go to Jerusalem, away from the army of the Chaldaeans and from the army of the Aramaeans: and so we are living in Jerusalem.

¹²Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

¹³This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Go and say to the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, Is there no hope of teaching you to give ear to my words? says the Lord.

¹⁴The orders which Jonadab, the son of Rechab, gave to his sons to take no wine, are done, and to this day they take no wine, for they do the orders of their father: but I have sent my words to you, getting up early and sending them, and you have not given ear to me.

¹⁵And I have sent you all my servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them, saying, Come back, now, every man from his evil way, and do better, and go not after other gods to become their servants, and you will go on living in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but your ears have not been open, and you have not given attention to me.

¹⁶Though the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have done the orders of their father which he gave them, this people has not given ear to me:

¹⁷For this reason the Lord, the God of armies, the God of Israel, has said, See, I will send on Judah and on all the people of Jerusalem all the evil which I said I would do to them: because I sent my words to them, but they did not give ear; crying out to them, but they gave no answer.

¹⁸But to the Rechabites Jeremiah said, This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Because you have done the orders of Jonadab your father, and have kept his rules, and done everything as he gave you orders to do it;

¹⁹For this reason the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, Jonadab, the son of Rechab, will never be without a man to take his place before me.

Jeremiah 35

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

²"Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink."

³Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

⁴and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

⁵I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "Drink wine!"

⁶But they said, "We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever:

⁷neither shall you build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents; that you may live many days in the land in which you live.'

⁸We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;

⁹nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

¹⁰but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

¹¹But it happened, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, 'Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians'; so we dwell at Jerusalem."

¹²Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,

¹³"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Go, and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words?" says the Lord.

¹⁴"The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to me.

¹⁵I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, 'Return now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers': but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me.

¹⁶Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me;

¹⁷therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.'"'"

¹⁸Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you';

¹⁹therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.'"