The Rechabites’ Obedience

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of (A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, “Go to the house of the (B)Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the (C)chambers, and give them wine to drink.” So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons, and all the household of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the (D)man of God, which was next to the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, (E)the doorkeeper. Then I set before the [a]men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “(F)Drink wine!” But they said, “We will not drink wine, for (G)Jonadab the son of (H)Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall (I)not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed nor plant a vineyard, nor [b]own one; but you shall live in (J)tents all your days, so that you may live (K)many days [c]in the land where you (L)live as strangers.’

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 35:5 Lit sons
  2. Jeremiah 35:7 Lit shall it be to you
  3. Jeremiah 35:7 Lit on the face of the

The Rekabites

35 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim(A) son of Josiah king of Judah: “Go to the Rekabite(B) family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms(C) of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink.”

So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the whole family of the Rekabites. I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God.(D) It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum(E) the doorkeeper.(F) Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”

But they replied, “We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jehonadab[a](G) son of Rekab gave us this command: ‘Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine.(H) Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents.(I) Then you will live a long time in the land(J) where you are nomads.’

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 35:6 Hebrew Jonadab, a variant of Jehonadab; here and often in this chapter