Jeremiah 35:6-19

6But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for aJonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, bthat you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11But cwhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of dthe army of the Chaldeans and ethe army of the Syrians.’ fSo we are living in Jerusalem.”

12Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, gWill you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you hpersistently, but you have not listened to me. 15I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ipersistently, saying, jTurn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and kdo not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ lBut you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, mbecause I have spoken to them and they have not listened, nI have called to them and they have not answered.”

18But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man oto stand before me.”

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