Jeremiah 35

1 [Several years earlier, ] when Jehoiakim was the King of Judah, Yahweh gave me this message:

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

2 “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.”

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 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.

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 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.

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 I set jugs of wine in front of them and urged them to drink some,

I placed some jugs full of wine and some cups before the Rechabites and told them, “Have some wine to drink.”

6 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.

“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 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.’

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 [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].

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 We have not built houses or planted vineyards or [other] crops or [worked in] fields.

We haven't built houses to live in, and we haven't had any vineyards or fields or grown any crops.

10 We have lived in tents. We have obeyed all the commands that Jehonadab, our ancestor, gave us.

We've lived in tents and have obeyed our forefather Jonadab, following everything he ordered us to do.

11 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].”

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 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:

Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah:

13 '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?

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 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.

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 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.

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 The descendants of Jehonadab have obeyed their ancestor, but you have refused to pay attention to what I told you.

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 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.'” '”

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.

18 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.

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,

19 Therefore, this is what I say: “There will always be descendants of Jehonadab who will do work for me.”’”

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.