Jeremias 35

¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

² »Go into the house of the Rechabites and talk to them. Take them into the House of Jehovah, into one of the rooms, and give them wine.«

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

⁴ I took them into the House of Jehovah, into the room of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God. This was near the rulers' room, over the room of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door.

⁵ I set out some large bowls full of wine together with some cups. Then I said to the Rechabites: »Have some wine!«

⁶ But they answered: »No! The ancestor of our clan, Jonadab son of Rechab, made a rule that we must obey. He said: ‘Do not ever drink wine

⁷ or build houses or plant crops and vineyards. Instead, you must always live in tents and move from place to place. If you obey this command, you will live a long time.’

⁸ »We have obeyed all the instructions that Jonadab gave us. We never drink wine, and neither do our wives, our sons, or our daughters.

⁹ »We do not build houses for homes for we live in tents. We own no vineyards, fields, or grain. We have fully obeyed everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.

¹⁰ »We live in tents, and we have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab ordered us to do.

¹¹ »But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded this land, we said: ‘Let's go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies. That is why we are living in Jerusalem.’«

¹² Then Jehovah spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said:

¹³ »This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Tell the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem, Will you ever learn your lesson and obey my words?« Declares Jehovah.

¹⁴ »Jonadab, Rechab's son, ordered his descendants not to drink wine. This order has been carried out. His descendants have not drunk any wine to this day, because they have obeyed their ancestor's order. I have spoken to you again and again, but you have refused to listen to me.

¹⁵ »I have sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again. They said: Turn from your evil ways, do what is right, and do not follow other gods in order to serve them. Then you will live in the land that I gave you and your ancestors. However, you refused to listen to me or obey me.

¹⁶ »The descendants of Jonadab, Rechab's son, have carried out the orders of their ancestor, but you refuse to listen to me.« ’«

¹⁷ »This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am going to bring on Judah and on all those who live in Jerusalem all the disasters that I threatened. I have spoken to them, but they did not listen. I called to them, but they did not answer.’«

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to the family of Rechab: »This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘You obeyed the order of your ancestor Jonadab, followed all his instructions, and did exactly what he told you to do.

¹⁹ So this is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: »A descendant of Jonadab, Rechab's son, will always serve me.« ’«