Jeremias 35
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Sedekias king of Juda, in the fifth month, [that] Ananias the false prophet, the son of Azor, from Gabaon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying,
This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
2 Thus says the Lord; I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Go to where the Rechabites live. Invite them to come with you to one of the rooms in the Lord's Temple and offer them wine to drink.
3 Yet two full years, and I will return into this place the vessels of the house of the Lord,
So I went to visit Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the whole Rechabite family.
4 and Jechonias, and the captivity of Juda: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Then I took them into the Lord's Temple, to a room used by the sons of Hanan, son of Igdaliah, a man of God. It was next to the one used by the officials, which was above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, who was the Temple doorkeeper.
5 Then Jeremias spoke to Ananias in the sight of all the people, and in the sight of the priests that stood in the house of the Lord,
I placed some jugs full of wine and some cups before the Rechabites and told them, “Have some wine to drink.”
6 and Jeremias said, May the Lord indeed do thus; may he confirm your word which you do prophesy, to return the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the captivity, out of Babylon to this place.
“We don't drink wine,” they said, “because our forefather Jonadab son of Rechab gave us these orders: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine.
7 Nevertheless hear you the word of the Lord which I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people.
Don't ever build houses or sow crops or plant vineyards. You're not to do this. Instead, you are to always live in tents so that you may have long lives as you move from place to place in the country.’
8 The prophets that were before me and before you of old, also prophesied over much country, and against great kingdoms, concerning war.
We have done exactly what our forefather Jonadab son of Rechab told us. None of us have ever drunk wine, and that includes our wives and our sons and daughters as well as us.
9 [As for] the prophet that has prophesied for peace, when the word has come [to pass], they shall know the prophet whom the Lord has sent them in truth.
We haven't built houses to live in, and we haven't had any vineyards or fields or grown any crops.
10 Then Ananias took the yokes from the neck of Jeremias in the sight of all the people, and broke them to pieces.
We've lived in tents and have obeyed our forefather Jonadab, following everything he ordered us to do.
11 And Ananias spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus said the Lord; Thus will I break the yoke of the king of Babylon from the necks of all the nations. And Jeremias went his way.
So when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the country we decided, ‘Come on, let's go into Jerusalem to be safe from the armies of the Chaldeans, Babylonians, and Arameans.’ That's why we've stayed in Jerusalem.”
12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, after that Ananias had broken the yokes off his neck, saying,
Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah:
13 Go and speak to Ananias, saying, Thus says the Lord; You have broken the yokes of wood; but I will make instead of them yokes of iron.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem: Why don't you accept my instructions and obey what I tell you? the Lord asks.
14 For thus said the Lord, I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all the nations, that they may serve the king of Babylon.
The instructions of Jonadab son of Rechab have been followed. He ordered his descendants not to drink wine, and they have not drunk it to this day because they have obeyed their forefather's command. But I have told you what to do time and again, and yet you refuse to obey me!
15 And Jeremias said to Ananias, The Lord has not sent you; and you have caused this people to trust in unrighteousness.
Time and again I've sent you so many of my servants the prophets to tell you: Everyone, stop your evil ways and do what's right! Don't go following other gods and worshiping them. Live in the land that I gave you and your fathers. But you haven't paid attention or obeyed me.
16 Therefore thus said the Lord: Behold, I [will] cast you off from the face of the earth: this year you shall die.
These descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have followed the command given to them by their forefather, but these people haven't obeyed me.
17 So he died in the seventh month.
So this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Watch as I bring down on Judah and on all the people living in Jerusalem all the disasters I have threatened to do to them, because I have told them what to do but they haven't obeyed; I have appealed to them but they haven't responded.
Then Jeremiah told the Rechabites: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Because you have obeyed your forefather Jonadab's instructions and have followed his orders and have done everything he told you to do,
this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will always have someone who will be in my presence serving me.
