Jeremiah 35

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

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

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 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 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 took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah and his brothers, all his sons, and all the family of the Rekabites.

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.

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

Then I placed bowls and cups full of wine in front of the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”

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.

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 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.’

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

We will never build houses to live in, and there will be no vineyard, field, or seed in our possession.

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

We have lived in tents and we have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our ancestor commanded us.

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].”

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 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 the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,

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?

“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 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 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 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.

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

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 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 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.'”

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.

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—

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

so Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, 'There will always be someone descended from Jonadab son of Rekab to serve me.'”