Jeremiah 35

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, [in] the days of Jehoyakim the son of Josiah the king of Judah, saying,

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

2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and offer them wine to drink.

“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 I took Yaazanyah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Chabazzinyah, and his brethren, and all his sons, 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 sons of Chanan, the son of Yigdalyahu, the man of God, which was alongside of the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Ma'aseyahu the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

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 sons of the house of the Rechabites goblets full of wine, and cups; and I said unto them, Drink wine.

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

6 But they said, We will not drink wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father hath laid a charge on us, saying, Ye shall not drink wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever;

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 Nor shall ye build any house, nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor have [any such]; but in tents shall ye dwell all your days, in order that ye may live many days on the face of the land where ye may sojourn.

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 And we have hearkened unto the voice of Jehonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, not to drink any wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and 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 And not to build houses for our dwelling: and we never had any vineyard, or field, or seed;

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

10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done in accordance with all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

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

11 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go into Jerusalem because of the army of the Chaldeans, and because of the army of the Syrians; and so we dwell at Jerusalem.

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 unto Jeremiah, 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 hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Go and say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? 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 Fulfilled are the words of Jehonadab the son of Rechab, that he hath commanded his sons not to drink wine: and they have not drunk any even unto this day; because they have obeyed the commandment of their father; but I, I have spoken unto you, early in the day and speaking; but ye have not hearkened unto 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 And I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, making them rise up early and sending them, saying, Do but return every man from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and go not after other gods to serve them: and so shall ye remain in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers; but ye have not inclined your ear, and have not hearkened unto me.

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 Because the sons of Jehonadab the son of Rechab have fulfilled the commandment of their father, which he hath commanded them; but as this people have not hearkened unto me:

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

17 Therefore thus hath said the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have spoken concerning them; because I spoke unto them, but they would not hear; and I called unto them, but they would not answer.

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 unto the house of the Rechabites said Jeremiah, Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Whereas ye have hearkened to the charge of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his commandments, and have done in accordance with all that he 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 hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, There shall not be wanting unto Jehonadab the son of Rechab a man to stand before me at all times.

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