Jeremiah 35

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

²“Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and lead them into the house of the Lord, into one of the halls of the treasuries. And you shall give them wine to drink.”

³And so I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the entire house of the Rechabites,

⁴and I led them into the house of the Lord, to the treasury of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was near the treasury of the princes, above the storehouse of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, who was the guardian of the entrance.

⁵And I placed before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls filled with wine, and chalices. And I said to them, “Drink wine.”

⁶And they responded: “We will not drink wine. For Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, instructed us, saying: ‘You shall not drink wine, you and your sons, in perpetuity.

⁷And you shall not build houses, and you shall not sow any seeds, and you shall not plant or have vineyards. Instead, you shall live in tents all your days, so that you may live many days upon the face of the earth, in which you are sojourners.’

⁸Therefore, we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he has commanded us, so that we do not drink wine all our days, we and our wives, our sons and daughters.

⁹And we do not build houses in which to live. And we do not have vineyard, or field, or seed to sow.

¹⁰Instead, we live in tents, and we have been obedient in accord with all that Jonadab, our father, has instructed us.

¹¹But when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had ascended to our land, we said: ‘Come and let us enter into Jerusalem, before the face of the army of the Chaldeans, and before the face of the army of Syria.’ And we have remained in Jerusalem.”

¹²And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:

¹³“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go, and say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will you not accept discipline, so that you obey my words, says the Lord?

¹⁴The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, in which he instructed his sons, so that they would not drink wine, have prevailed. And they have not drunk wine, even to this day. For they have obeyed the instruction of their father. But I have spoken to you, rising and speaking from early morning, and you did not obey me.

¹⁵And I have sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising at first light, and sending, and saying: ‘Convert, each one from his wicked way, and make your intentions good. And do not choose to follow strange gods, nor shall you worship them. And then you shall live in the land which I gave to you and to your fathers.’ And yet you have not inclined your ear, and you have not heeded me.

¹⁶So the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have remained firm in the commandment of their father, which he instructed to them, while this people has not been obedient to me.

¹⁷For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every evil that I have declared against them. For I have spoken to them, and they have not listened. I have called to them, and they have not responded to me.”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah 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 have kept all his precepts, and have done all that he has instructed you,

¹⁹because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: There will not be a man lacking from the stock of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, standing in my sight, for all days.”

Jeremiah 35

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

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

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

⁴And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

⁵And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.

⁶But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

⁷Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.

⁸Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

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

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

¹¹But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar 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 unto Jeremiah, saying,

¹³Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the Lord.

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

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

¹⁶Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:

¹⁷Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

¹⁸And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:

¹⁹Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.