Jeremiah 35

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

The word which came unto 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 unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them into the house of Yahweh, into one of the chambers, —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 brethren, 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 brought them into the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God, —which was beside the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum keeper of the porch;

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

and I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups, —and said unto them Drink ye 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.

Then said they, —We will not drink wine, —for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, laid command upon us, saying, Ye shall not drink wine, ye, nor your sons, unto times age-abiding;

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.’

nor house, shall ye build nor, seed, shall ye sow, nor vineyard, shall ye plant, neither shall ye have them, —but in tents, shall ye dwell, all your days, that ye may live many days on the face of the soil where ye 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].

So we have hearkened unto the voice of Jonadab, son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, —not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons nor our daughters;

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

and not to build houses for us to dwell in, —and so, vineyard or field or seed, have we none;

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

but we have dwelt in tents, —and have hearkened and done, 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 so it came to pass when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, —Let us even enter, Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans and because of the force of the Syrians: So have we dwelt 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 came the word of Yahweh unto 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?

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Go and say to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, —Will ye not receive correction by hearkening unto my words? Demandeth Yahweh:

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.

Confirmed are the words of Jonadab son of Rechab—which he commanded his sons that they should not drink, wine, and they have not drunk until this day, for they have hearkened unto the command of their father, But, I, have spoken unto you, betimes, speaking, and ye have not hearkened, unto 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 sent unto you all my servants the prophets, betimes, sending, saying, Return I pray you—every man from his wicked way, And amend your doings, And do not go after other gods to serve them, So shall ye remain on the soil which I gave to you, and to your fathers, —but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened, unto 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, confirmed, the commandment of their father which he commanded them, —whereas, this people, have not hearkened unto 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, saith Yahweh, God of hosts, God of Israel, Behold me! bringing in against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the calamity, which I have spoken concerning them, —Because I spake unto them and they did not hearken, And I called to them and 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.

But to the house of the Rechabites, said Jeremiah: Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Because ye have hearkened unto the commandment of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his commandments, and done 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, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, —Jonadab son of Rechab shall not want one to stand before me, all the days!