Jeremiah 35

Living Bible

35 This is the message the Lord gave Jeremiah when Jehoiakim (son of Josiah) was the king of Judah:^[a]

² Go to the settlement where the families of the Rechabites live and invite them to the Temple. Take them into one of the inner rooms and offer them a drink of wine.

³ So I went over to see Jaazaniah (son of Jeremiah, who was the son of Habazziniah) and brought him and all his brothers and sons—representing all the Rechab families— ⁴ to the Temple, into the room assigned for the use of the sons of Hanan the prophet (the son of Igdaliah). This room was located next to the one used by the palace official, directly above the room of Maaseiah (son of Shallum), who was the Temple doorman. ⁵ I set cups and jugs of wine before them and invited them to have a drink, ⁶ but they refused.

“No,” they said. “We don’t drink, for Jonadab our father (son of Rechab) commanded that none of us should ever drink, neither we nor our children forever. ⁷ He also told us not to build houses or plant crops or vineyards and not to own farms, but always to live in tents; and that if we obeyed, we would live long, good lives in our own land. ⁸ And we have obeyed him in all these things. We have never had a drink of wine since then, nor have our wives or our sons or daughters either. ⁹ We haven’t built houses or owned farms or planted crops. ¹⁰ We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, arrived in this country, we were afraid and decided to move to Jerusalem. That’s why we are here.”

¹² Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah:

¹³ The Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go and say to Judah and Jerusalem, Won’t you learn a lesson from the families of Rechab? ¹⁴ They don’t drink because their father told them not to. But I have spoken to you again and again, and you won’t listen or obey. ¹⁵ I have sent you prophet after prophet to tell you to turn back from your wicked ways and to stop worshiping other gods, and that if you obeyed, then I would let you live in peace here in the land I gave to you and your fathers. But you wouldn’t listen or obey. ¹⁶ The families of Rechab have obeyed their father completely, but you have refused to listen to me. ¹⁷ Therefore, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Because you refuse to listen or answer when I call, I will send upon Judah and Jerusalem all the evil I have ever threatened.

^18-19 Then Jeremiah turned to the Rechabites and said: “The Lord, the God of Israel, says that because you have obeyed your father in every respect, he shall always have descendants who will worship me.”