Jeremiah 35

1 The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying:

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

2 'Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and thou hast spoken with them, and brought them into the house of Jehovah, unto one of the chambers, and caused them to drink 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 And I take Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and all the house of the Rechabites,

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

4 and bring them into the house of Jehovah, unto 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;

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

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

6 And they say, 'We do not drink wine: for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, charged us, saying, Ye do not drink wine, ye and your sons — unto the age;

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 a house ye do not build, and seed ye do not sow, and a vineyard ye do not plant, nor have ye any; for in tents do ye dwell all your days, that ye may live many days on the face of the ground whither ye are sojourning.

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 'And we hearken 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;

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 nor to build houses for our dwelling; and vineyard, and field, and seed, we have none;

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

10 and we dwell in tents, and we hearken, and we do according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us;

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

11 and it cometh to pass, in the coming up of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon unto 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.'

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 And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah, saying: 'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel:

Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,

13 'Go, and thou hast said to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Do ye not receive instruction? — to hearken unto My words — an affirmation of Jehovah.

“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 Performed have been the words of Jonadab son of Rechab, when he commanded his sons not to drink wine, and they have not drunk unto this day, for they have obeyed the command of their father; and I — I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened unto 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 And I send unto you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying: Turn back, I pray you, each from his evil way, and amend your doings, yea, ye do not walk after other gods, to serve them, and dwell ye on the ground that I have given to you and to your fathers; and ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto 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 'Because the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have performed the command of their father, that he commanded them, and this people have not hearkened unto Me,

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 thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am bringing in unto Judah, and unto all inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken unto them, and they have not hearkened, yea, I call to them, and they have not answered.'

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

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, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Of Jonadab son of Rechab one standing before me is not cut off all the days.'

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