Jeremiah 35

The Obedience of the Rechabites

1The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord , in the days of Jehoi´akim the son of Josi´ah king of Judah, saying,[#2 Kgs 23.36—24.6; 2 Chr 36.5-7.]

2Go unto the house of the Rech´abites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord , into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

3Then I took Ja-azani´ah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazini´ah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rech´abites;

4and I brought them into the house of the Lord , into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdali´ah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Ma-asei´ah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

5and I set before the sons of the house of the Rech´abites pots full of wine, and cups; and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.

6But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jon´adab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

7neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any : but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.

8Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jon´adab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

9nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

10but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jon´adab our father commanded us.

11But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrez´zar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chalde´ans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.

12Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,

13Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the Lord .

14The words of Jon´adab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

15I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them , saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

16Because the sons of Jon´adab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:

17therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

18And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rech´abites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jon´adab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you;

19therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jon´adab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Published by: American Bible Society