The Rechabites Commended

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah:^{(A) 2} Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.^{(B) 3} So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. ⁴ I brought them to the house of the Lord into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold.^{(C) 5} Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups, and I said to them, “Have some wine.”^{(D) 6} But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, ‘You shall never drink wine, neither you nor your children,^{(E) 7} nor shall you ever build a house or sow seed, nor shall you plant a vineyard or even own one, but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you reside.’^{(F) 8} We have obeyed the charge of our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,^{(G) 9} and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, ¹⁰ but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹ But when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”^(H)

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him.^{(A) 18} When they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,^{(B) 19} serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. ²⁰ I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house,^{(C) 21} as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.^{[a](D) 22} And now, as a captive to the Spirit,^[b] I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,^{(E) 23} except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.^{(F) 24} But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.^(G)

²⁵ “And now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom, will ever see my face again.^{(H) 26} Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,^{(I) 27} for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.^{(J) 28} Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God^[c] that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.^{[d](K) 29} I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.^{(L) 30} Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them. ³¹ Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears.^{(M) 32} And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified.^{(N) 33} I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing.^{(O) 34} You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions.^{(P) 35} In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”^(Q)

³⁶ When he had finished speaking, he knelt down with them all and prayed.^{(R) 37} There was much weeping among them all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,^{(S) 38} grieving especially because of what he had said, that they would not see him again. Then they brought him to the ship.^(T)

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? says the Lord.^{(A) 14} The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, and you have not obeyed me.^{(B) 15} I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, “Turn now every one of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not incline your ear or obey me.^{(C) 16} The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but this people has not obeyed me.^{(D) 17} Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.^(E)

¹⁸ But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.^(F)

Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem

21 When we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.^{[a] 2} When we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail.^{(A) 3} We came in sight of Cyprus, and leaving it on our left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there. ⁴ We looked up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.^{(B) 5} When our days there were ended, we left and proceeded on our journey, and all of them, with wives and children, escorted us outside the city. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed^{(C) 6} and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

⁷ When we had finished^[b] the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for one day.^{(D) 8} The next day we left and came to Caesarea, and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him.^{(E) 9} He had four unmarried daughters^[c] who had the gift of prophecy.^{(F) 10} While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ He came to us and took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the gentiles.’ ”^{(G) 12} When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”^{(H) 14} Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, “The Lord’s will be done.”^(I)

¹⁵ After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came along and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.^(J)