Jeremiah 35

The Rechabites’ Obedience

1The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2Go to the house of the bRechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the cchambers, and give them wine to drink.” 3Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites, 4and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the dman of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ethe doorkeeper. 5Then I set before the
Lit sons
men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, gDrink wine!”
6But they said, “We will not drink wine, for hJonadab the son of iRechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall jnot drink wine, you or your sons, forever. 7You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in ktents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live lmany days in the land where you msojourn.’ 8“We have nobeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or our daughters, 9nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we odo not have vineyard or field or seed. 10“We have only pdwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that qJonadab our father commanded us. 11“But when rNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come and let us sgo to Jerusalem before the army of the Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans.’ So we have dwelt in Jerusalem.”

Judah Rebuked

12Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 13Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, tWill you not receive instruction by listening to My words?” declares the Lord. 14“The uwords of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you
Lit rising early and speaking
,
wagain and again; yet you have xnot listened to Me.
15Also I have sent to you all My yservants the prophets, sending them
Lit rising early and speaking
again and again, saying: ‘ aaTurn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and abdo not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will acdwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not adinclined your ear or listened to Me.
16Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have aeobserved the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.’”’ 17Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, afI am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I agspoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.’”

18Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have ahobeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you; 19therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of Rechab aishall not lack a man to ajstand before Me
Lit all the days
always.”’”
Copyright information for NASB1995