Jeremiah 35

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

The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, 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 house of the Rechabites, and you have spoken with them, and brought them into the house of YHWH, to one of the chambers, and caused them to drink wine.”

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.

And I take Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and all the house of the Rechabites,

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.

and bring them into the house of YHWH, to the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God, that [is] near to the chamber of the princes, that [is] above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold;

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

and I put before the sons of the house of the Rechabites goblets full of wine, and cups, and I say to them, “Drink 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.

And they say, “We do not drink wine: for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, charged us, saying, You do not drink wine, you and your sons—for all time;

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.’

and you do not build a house, and you do not sow seed, and you do not plant a vineyard, nor have of [these]; for you dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days on the face of the ground to where you are sojourning.

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].

And we listen to the voice of Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, to all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all 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.

nor to build houses to dwell in; and we have no vineyard, and field, and seed;

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

and we dwell in tents, and we listen, and we do according to all that Jonadab our father 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].”

and it comes to pass, in the coming up of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to the land, that we say, Come, and we enter Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans, and because of the force of Aram—and we dwell 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:

And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah, saying, “Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel:

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?

Go, and you have said to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Do you not receive instruction to listen to My words? A declaration of YHWH.

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 Rechab, when he commanded his sons not to drink wine, have stood, and they have not drunk to this day, for they have obeyed the command of their father; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, and you have not listened 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.

And I send all My servants the prophets to you, rising early and sending, saying, Please turn back, each from his evil way, and amend your doings, indeed, you do not walk after other gods, to serve them; and dwell on the ground that I have given to you and to your fathers; and you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to Me.

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

Because the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have stood by the command of their father that he commanded them, and this people have not listened 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.'” '”

therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing to Judah, and to all inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the calamity that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them, and they have not listened, indeed, I call to them, and they have not answered.”

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.

And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites: “Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Because that you have listened to the command of your father Jonadab, and you observe all his commands, and do according to all that he commanded you;

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

therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: A man of Jonadab son of Rechab is not cut off [from] standing before Me all the days.”