CHAPTER 35

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying, —

2 Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

3 Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, even the whole house of the Rechabites;

4 And brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was nigh the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the treasury;

5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine and cups; and I said to them, Drink wine.

6 But they said, We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall not drink wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever;

7 And houses ye shall not build, nor sow seed, nor plant, a vineyard, nor have any such thing; but ye shall dwell in tents all your days; that ye may live many days in the land where ye are strangers.

8 And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, as to all the things which he commanded us, that we should not drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters;

9 Nor build houses to dwell in, nor have a vineyard, or a field, or seed;

10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all things which Jonadab our father hath commanded us.

11 But it was that, when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up into the land, we then said, Come, let us enter into Jerusalem from the face of the army of the Chaldeans, and from the face of the army of the Syrians; and we have dwelt in Jerusalem.

12 Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, saying, —

13 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Go and tell the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction, so as to obey my words? saith Jehovah:

14 Confirmed are the words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, that they should not drink wine, for they have drunk none to this day, but they have obeyed the commandment of their father: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, yet ye have not obeyed me;

15 And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, Return, I pray you, every one from his evil way, and make right your doings, and walk not after foreign gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye inclined not your ear nor obeyed me.

16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the command of their father, which he had commanded them, while this people have not obeyed me, —

17 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring on Judah, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil which I have pronounced against them; for I have spoken to them, and they have not hearkened; and I have called them, but they have not answered.

18 And to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his commandments, and have done according to all the things which he had commanded you;

19 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, There shall not fail a man from Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand before me continually.