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,
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2 Thus says the Lord; I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
“Go to the family of the Rekabites and speak with them. Then bring them to my house, into one of the rooms there, and give 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 took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah and his brothers, all his sons, and all the family of the Rekabites.
4 and Jechonias, and the captivity of Juda: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
I took them to the house of Yahweh, into the rooms of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God. These rooms were beside the room of the leaders, which was above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the gatekeeper.
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,
Then I placed bowls and cups full of wine in front of the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”
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 said, “We will not drink any wine, for our ancestor, Jonadab son of Rekab, commanded us, 'Do not drink any wine, neither you nor your descendants, forever.
7 Nevertheless hear you the word of the Lord which I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people.
Also, do not build any houses, sow any seeds, or plant any vineyards; this is not for you. For you must live in tents all your days, so that you might live many days in the land where you are staying as foreigners.'
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 obeyed the voice of Jonadab son of Rekab, our ancestor, in all that he commanded us, to never drink wine all of our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters.
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 will never build houses to live in, and there will be no vineyard, field, or seed in our possession.
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 and we have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our ancestor commanded 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the land, we said, 'Come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape from the Chaldean and Aramean armies.' So we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, after that Ananias had broken the yokes off his neck, saying,
Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,
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.
“Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, 'Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive correction and listen to my words? —this is Yahweh's declaration.
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 words of Jonadab son of Rekab that he gave to his sons as a command, not to drink any wine, have been observed to this very day. They have obeyed their ancestor's command. But as for me, I myself have been making persistent proclamations to you, but you do not listen to me.
15 And Jeremias said to Ananias, The Lord has not sent you; and you have caused this people to trust in unrighteousness.
I sent out to you all my servants, the prophets. I was persistent in sending them to say, 'Let each person turn from his wicked way and do good deeds; let no one walk any longer after other gods and worship them. Instead, come back to the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.' Yet you will not listen to me or pay attention to me.
16 Therefore thus said the Lord: Behold, I [will] cast you off from the face of the earth: this year you shall die.
For the descendants of Jonadab son of Rekab have observed the commands of their ancestor that he gave them, but this people refuses to listen to me.”'
17 So he died in the seventh month.
So Yahweh, God of hosts and God of Israel, says this, 'Look, I am bringing upon Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem, all the disasters I pronounced against them because I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.'”
Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: You have listened to the commands of Jonadab your ancestor and have kept them all—you have obeyed all that he commanded you to do—
so Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, 'There will always be someone descended from Jonadab son of Rekab to serve me.'”
