Jeremiah 35

1 The worde which came vnto Ieremiah from the Lord, in the dayes of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah, saying,

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

2 Go vnto the house of the Rechabites, and speake vnto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord into one of the chambers, and giue them wine to drinke.

“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 Then tooke I Iaazaniah, the sonne of Ieremiah the sonne of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sonnes, and the whole house of the Rechabites,

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 I brought them into the House of the Lord, into the chamber of the sonnes of Hanan, the sonne of Igdaliah a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was aboue the chamber of Maaseiah the sonne of Shallum, the keeper of the treasure.

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 And I set before the sonnes of the house of the Rechabites, pots full of wine, and cuppes, and said vnto them, Drinke wine.

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

6 But they said, We will drinke no wine: for Ionadab the sonne of Rechab our father commanded vs, saying, Ye shall drinke no wine, neither you nor your sonnes for euer.

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 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seede, nor plant vineyarde, nor haue any, but all your dayes ye shall dwell in tentes, that ye may liue a long time in the land where ye be strangers.

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 Thus haue wee obeyed the voyce of Ionadab the sonne of Rechab our father, in all that he hath charged vs, and wee drinke no wine all our dayes, neither wee, our wiues, our sonnes, nor our daughters.

[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 Neither builde wee houses for vs to dwell in, neither haue we vineyard, nor fielde, nor seede,

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

10 But we haue remained in tentes, and haue obeyed, and done according to all that Ionadab our father commanded vs.

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

11 But when Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel came vp into the land, we said, Come, and let vs go to Ierusalem, from the hoste of the Caldeans, and from the host of Aram: so we dwel at Ierusalem.

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 Then came the word of the Lord vnto Ieremiah, 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 Thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Goe, and tell the men of Iudah, and the inhabitants of Ierusalem, Will ye not receiue doctrine to obey my wordes, saith the Lord?

'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 The commandement of Ionadab the sonne of Rechab that hee commanded his sonnes, that they should drinke no wine, is surely kept: for vnto this day they drinke none, but obey their fathers commandement: notwithstanding I haue spoken vnto you, rising earely, and speaking, but ye would not obey me.

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 I haue sent also vnto you all my seruants the Prophetes, rising vp earely, and sending, them, saying, Returne nowe euery man from his euill way, and amende your workes, and goe not after other gods to serue them, and ye shall dwel in the lande which I haue giuen vnto you, and to your fathers, but ye would not encline your eare, nor obey mee.

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 Surely the sonnes of Ionadab the sonne of Rechab, haue kept the commandement of their father, which he gaue them, but this people hath not obeyed me.

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

17 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Beholde, I will bring vpon Iudah, and vpon all the inhabitants of Ierusalem, all the euill that I haue pronounced against them, because I haue spoke vnto them, but they would not heare, and I haue called vnto them, but they would not answere.

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.'” '”

18 And Ieremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, Because ye haue obeyed the commandement of Ionadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according vnto all that hee hath commanded you,

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.

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Ionadab the sonne of Rechab shall not want a man, to stand before me for euer.

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