A Warning to Zedekiah

34 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the towns around it. Nebuchadnezzar had with him all his army and the armies of all the kingdoms and peoples he ruled. ² This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said: “Jeremiah, go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him: ‘This is what the Lord says: I will soon hand the city of Jerusalem over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down! ³ You will not escape from the king of Babylon; you will surely be captured and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will talk to you face to face. And you will go to Babylon. ⁴ But, Zedekiah king of Judah, listen to the promise of the Lord. This is what the Lord says about you: You will not be killed with a sword. ⁵ You will die in a peaceful way. As people made funeral fires to honor your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you, so people will make a funeral fire to honor you. They will cry for you and sadly say, “Ah, master!” I myself make this promise to you, says the Lord.’”

⁶ So Jeremiah the prophet gave this message to Zedekiah in Jerusalem. ⁷ This was while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that had not yet been taken—Lachish and Azekah. These were the only strong, walled cities left in the land of Judah.

Slaves Are Mistreated

⁸ The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. This was after King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem to free all the Hebrew slaves. ⁹ Everyone was supposed to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female. No one was to keep a fellow Jew as a slave. ¹⁰ All the officers and all the people accepted this agreement; they agreed to free their male and female slaves and no longer keep them as slaves. So all the slaves were set free. ¹¹ But after that, the people who had slaves changed their minds. So they took back the people they had set free and made them slaves again.

¹² Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: ¹³ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought your ancestors out of Egypt where they were slaves and made an agreement with them. ¹⁴ I said to your ancestors: ‘At the end of every seven years, each one of you must set his Hebrew slaves free. If a fellow Hebrew has sold himself to you, you must let him go free after he has served you for six years.’ But your ancestors did not listen or pay attention to me. ¹⁵ A short time ago you changed your hearts and did what I say is right. Each of you gave freedom to his fellow Hebrews who were slaves. And you even made an agreement before me in the place where I have chosen to be worshiped. ¹⁶ But now you have changed your minds. You have shown you do not honor me. Each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free, and you have forced them to become your slaves again.

¹⁷ “So this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me. You have not given freedom to your fellow Hebrews, neither relatives nor friends. But now I will give freedom, says the Lord, to war, to terrible diseases, and to hunger. I will make you hated by all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ I will hand over the men who broke my agreement, who have not kept the promises they made before me. They cut a calf into two pieces before me and walked between the pieces.^{[a] 19} These people made the agreement before me by walking between the pieces of the calf: the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the officers of the court, the priests, and all the people of the land. ²⁰ So I will hand them over to their enemies and to everyone who wants to kill them. Their bodies will become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth. ²¹ I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officers over to their enemies, and to everyone who wants to kill them, and to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have left Jerusalem. ²² I will give the order, says the Lord, to bring the Babylonian army back to Jerusalem. It will fight against Jerusalem, capture it, set it on fire, and burn it down. I will destroy the towns in Judah so that they become ruins where no one lives!”

The Recabite Family Obeys God

35 When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: ² “Go to the family of Recab. Invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the Temple of the Lord, and offer them wine to drink.”

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

⁶ But the Recabite men answered, “We never drink wine. Our ancestor Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. ⁷ Also you must never build houses, plant seeds, or plant vineyards, or do any of those things. You must live only in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are wanderers.’ ⁸ So we Recabites have obeyed everything Jonadab our ancestor 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. ¹⁰ We have lived in tents and have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹ But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Judah, we said to each other, ‘Come, we must enter Jerusalem so we can escape the Babylonian army and the Aramean army.’ So we have stayed in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: ¹³ “This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Jeremiah, go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem: ‘You should 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 command; they do not drink wine. But I, the Lord, have given you messages again and again, but you did not obey me. ¹⁵ I sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again, saying, “Each of you must stop doing evil. You must change and be good. Do not follow other gods to serve them. If you obey me, you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not listened 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.’

¹⁷ “So the Lord God All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will soon bring every disaster 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 Recabites, “This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the commands of your ancestor Jonadab and have followed all of his teachings; you have done everything he commanded.’ ¹⁹ So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab to serve me.’”