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,
[Several years earlier, ] when Jehoiakim was the King of Judah, Yahweh gave me this message:
2 Thus says the Lord; I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
“Go to the place where families of the Rechab clan live. Invite them to my temple. [When they arrive, ] take them into one of the inside rooms and offer them [some] wine.”
3 Yet two full years, and I will return into this place the vessels of the house of the Lord,
So I went to see Jaazaniah and all his brothers and sons who represented the Rechab clan. Jaazaniah was the son of [another man named] Jeremiah and grandson of Habazziniah.
4 and Jechonias, and the captivity of Juda: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
I took them to the temple, [and we went] into the room where the sons of Igdaliah’s son Hanan, who was a prophet, stayed. That room was next to the room that was used by the men who were in charge of the entrances to the temple. It was above the room that belonged to Maaseiah, who was the temple gatekeeper and the son of Shallum.
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 set jugs of wine in front of them and urged them to drink some,
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.
but they refused. They said, “We do not drink wine, because our ancestor Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, commanded us, saying ‘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.
And you must not build houses or plant vineyards or [other] crops. Instead, you must always live in tents. If you obey those commands, you all will live for many years in this land.’
8 The prophets that were before me and before you of old, also prophesied over much country, and against great kingdoms, concerning war.
[So] we have obeyed him in all those matters. We have never drunk wine. Our wives and our sons and our daughters [have also never drunk wine].
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 have not built houses or planted vineyards or [other] crops or [worked in] fields.
10 Then Ananias took the yokes from the neck of Jeremias in the sight of all the people, and broke them to pieces.
We have lived in tents. We have obeyed all the commands that Jehonadab, our ancestor, gave us.
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.
But when [the army of] King Nebuchadnezzar attacked this country, we said, ‘We must go to Jerusalem to escape from the armies of Babylonia and Syria.’ So, [we came] to Jerusalem and we are living [here].”
12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, after that Ananias had broken the yokes off his neck, saying,
Then Yahweh gave this message to me: “This is what [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli [people say that they belong to], say:
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.
'Go and tell this to the people in Jerusalem and in [other places in] Judah: “Why do you not [RHQ] listen to me or learn something about how to obey me?
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 Rechab clan still do not drink wine, because their ancestor Jehonadab told them to not do that. [In contrast], I have spoken to you many times, but 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.
Many times I sent prophets to you. They told you, 'Turn away from your wicked behavior, and do things that you should do. Stop worshiping other gods, in order that you will be able to live [peacefully] in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors.' But you would not pay attention to what I said or obey me.
16 Therefore thus said the Lord: Behold, I [will] cast you off from the face of the earth: this year you shall die.
The descendants of Jehonadab have obeyed their ancestor, but you have refused to pay attention to what I told you.
17 So he died in the seventh month.
Therefore, this is what [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom you Israeli people [say you belong to], say: 'You have refused to listen to me and you did not answer when I called you. Therefore, I will cause the people in Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah to experience all the disasters that I said that I would cause to happen.'” '”
Then I turned to the Rechab clan and said, “This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [say we belong to], says: ‘You have obeyed what your ancestor Jehonadab told you. You have obeyed all his instructions.
Therefore, this is what I say: “There will always be descendants of Jehonadab who will do work for me.”’”
