The Recabite Family Obeys God

35 When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah [^Cruled 609–597 bc], the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: ² “Go to the ·family [^Lhouse] of Recab. Invite them to come to one of the ·side rooms [chambers] of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, and offer them wine to drink.”

³ So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah [^Cnot the prophet, but a man with the same name], the son of Habazziniah. And I gathered all of Jaazaniah’s brothers and sons and the whole ·family [^Lhouse] of the Recabites together. ⁴ Then I brought them into the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. We went into the ·room [chamber] of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, who was a man of God. The ·room [chamber] was next to the one where the officers stay and above the ·room [chamber] of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the ·doorkeeper in the Temple [^Lguard/keeper of the threshold]. ⁵ Then I put some ·bowls [pitchers] full of wine and some cups before the men of the Recabite ·family [^Lhouse]. And I said to them, “Drink some wine.”

⁶ But the Recabite men answered, “We never drink wine. Our ·ancestor [father] Jonadab son of Recab [2 Kin. 10:15–17] gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. ⁷ Also you must never build houses, ·plant [^Lsow] seeds, or plant vineyards, or do any of those things. You must live only in tents all your days. Then you will live ·a long time [^Lmany days] in the land where you are ·wanderers [sojourners; resident aliens].’ ⁸ So we Recabites ·have obeyed everything [^Llistened to the voice of] Jonadab our ·ancestor [father] commanded us. Neither we nor our wives, sons, or daughters ever drink wine. ⁹ We never build houses in which to live, or own fields or vineyards, or ·plant crops [^Lseed]. ¹⁰ We have lived in tents and have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹ But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ·attacked Judah [^Lcame up to the land], we said to each other, ‘Come, we must enter Jerusalem ·so we can escape [^Lfrom before] the ·Babylonian [^LChaldean] army and the Aramean army.’ So we have stayed [lived] in Jerusalem [^Cthough they may not be living in houses, in conformity to their ancestor’s command].”

¹² Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: ¹³ “This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: Jeremiah, go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem: ‘·You should [^LCan you not…?] learn a lesson and obey my message,’ says the Lord. ¹⁴ ‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his descendants not to drink wine, and that command has been obeyed. Until today they have obeyed their ·ancestor’s [father’s] command; they do not drink wine. But I, the Lord, have given you messages again and again, but you did not ·obey [listen to] me. ¹⁵ I sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again, saying, “Each of you must ·stop doing evil [^Lturn from his evil way/path]. You must change and be good. Do not ·follow [^Lgo after] other gods to serve them. If you obey me, you will live in the land I have given to you and your ·ancestors [fathers].” But you have not ·listened [^Linclined your ear] to me or paid attention to my message. ¹⁶ The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab obeyed the commands their ancestor gave them, but the people of Judah have not obeyed me [^Cthe Recabites carefully observe the law of a human while Israel rejects divine law].’

¹⁷ “So the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: ‘I will soon bring every ·disaster [trouble; evil] I said would come to Judah and to everyone living in Jerusalem. I spoke to those people, but they refused to listen. I called out to them, but they did not answer me.’”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to the [^Lhouse of the] Recabites, “This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: ‘You have ·obeyed [listened to] the commands of your ·ancestor [father] Jonadab and have ·followed all of his teachings [kept/guarded all his commands]; you have done everything he commanded.’ ¹⁹ So this is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: ‘·There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab to serve me [^LJonadab son of Recab will not lack a descendant to stand before me for all days].’”