1 The worde which came vnto Ieremiah from the Lord, in the dayes of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah, saying, 2 Go vnto the house of the Rechabites, and speake vnto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord into one of the chambers, and giue them wine to drinke. 3 Then tooke I Iaazaniah, the sonne of Ieremiah the sonne of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sonnes, and the whole house of the Rechabites, 4 And I brought them into the House of the Lord, into the chamber of the sonnes of Hanan, the sonne of Igdaliah a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was aboue the chamber of Maaseiah the sonne of Shallum, the keeper of the treasure. 5 And I set before the sonnes of the house of the Rechabites, pots full of wine, and cuppes, and said vnto them, Drinke wine. 6 But they said, We will drinke no wine: for Ionadab the sonne of Rechab our father commanded vs, saying, Ye shall drinke no wine, neither you nor your sonnes for euer. 7 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seede, nor plant vineyarde, nor haue any, but all your dayes ye shall dwell in tentes, that ye may liue a long time in the land where ye be strangers. 8 Thus haue wee obeyed the voyce of Ionadab the sonne of Rechab our father, in all that he hath charged vs, and wee drinke no wine all our dayes, neither wee, our wiues, our sonnes, nor our daughters. 9 Neither builde wee houses for vs to dwell in, neither haue we vineyard, nor fielde, nor seede, 10 But we haue remained in tentes, and haue obeyed, and done according to all that Ionadab our father commanded vs. 11 But when Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel came vp into the land, we said, Come, and let vs go to Ierusalem, from the hoste of the Caldeans, and from the host of Aram: so we dwel at Ierusalem. 12 Then came the word of the Lord vnto Ieremiah, saying, 13 Thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Goe, and tell the men of Iudah, and the inhabitants of Ierusalem, Will ye not receiue doctrine to obey my wordes, saith the Lord? 14 The commandement of Ionadab the sonne of Rechab that hee commanded his sonnes, that they should drinke no wine, is surely kept: for vnto this day they drinke none, but obey their fathers commandement: notwithstanding I haue spoken vnto you, rising earely, and speaking, but ye would not obey me. 15 I haue sent also vnto you all my seruants the Prophetes, rising vp earely, and sending, them, saying, Returne nowe euery man from his euill way, and amende your workes, and goe not after other gods to serue them, and ye shall dwel in the lande which I haue giuen vnto you, and to your fathers, but ye would not encline your eare, nor obey mee. 16 Surely the sonnes of Ionadab the sonne of Rechab, haue kept the commandement of their father, which he gaue them, but this people hath not obeyed me. 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Beholde, I will bring vpon Iudah, and vpon all the inhabitants of Ierusalem, all the euill that I haue pronounced against them, because I haue spoke vnto them, but they would not heare, and I haue called vnto them, but they would not answere. 18 And Ieremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, Because ye haue obeyed the commandement of Ionadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according vnto all that hee hath commanded you, 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Ionadab the sonne of Rechab shall not want a man, to stand before me for euer.
Jeremiah and the Rechabites
1 When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, 2 “Go to the members of the Rechabite clan and talk to them. Then bring them into one of the rooms in the Temple and offer them some wine.” 3 So I took the entire Rechabite clan—Jaazaniah (the son of another Jeremiah, who was Habazziniah's son) and all his brothers and sons— 4 and brought them to the Temple. I took them into the room of the disciples of the prophet Hanan son of Igdaliah. This room was above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, an important official in the Temple, and near the rooms of the other officials. 5 Then I placed cups and bowls full of wine before the Rechabites, and I said to them, “Have some wine.”
6 But they answered, “We do not drink wine. Our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab told us that neither we nor our descendants were ever to drink any wine. 7 He also told us not to build houses or farm the land and not to plant vineyards or buy them. He commanded us always to live in tents, so that we might remain in this land where we live like strangers. 8 We have obeyed all the instructions that Jonadab gave us. We ourselves never drink wine, and neither do our wives, our sons, or our daughters. 9-10 We do not build houses for homes—we live in tents—and we own no vineyards, fields, or grain. We have fully obeyed everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11 But when King Nebuchadnezzar invaded the country, we decided to come to Jerusalem to get away from the Babylonian and Syrian armies. That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”
12-13 Then the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, told me to go and say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “I, the Lord, ask you why you refuse to listen to me and to obey my instructions. 14 Jonadab's descendants have obeyed his command not to drink wine, and to this very day none of them drink any. But I have kept on speaking to you, and you have not obeyed me. 15 I have continued to send you all my servants the prophets, and they have told you to give up your evil ways and to do what is right. They warned you not to worship and serve other gods, so that you could go on living in the land that I gave you and your ancestors. But you would not listen to me or pay any attention to me. 16 Jonadab's descendants have obeyed the command that their ancestor gave them, but you people have not obeyed me. 17 So now, I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, will bring on you people of Judah and of Jerusalem all the destruction that I promised. I will do this because you would not listen when I spoke to you, and you would not answer when I called you.”
18 Then I told the Rechabite clan that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, “You have obeyed the command that your ancestor Jonadab gave you; you have followed all his instructions, and you have done everything he commanded you. 19 So I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, promise that Jonadab son of Rechab will always have a male descendant to serve me.”