Jeremiah 35
Lexham English Bible
The Faithfulness of the Rechabites
35 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying,[a] 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of Yahweh into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole of the house of the Rechabites, 4 and I brought them to the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was beside the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.
5 Then I set[b] before[c] the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,[d] commanded us, saying,[e] ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your children, forever.[f] 7 And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard, and it shall not be for you, but in tents you shall live all your days, so that you may live many days on the surface of the land where you are dwelling as aliens.’ 8 And we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,[g] in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses for our living, and there is not vineyard, or field, or seed for us. 10 But we have lived in tents, and we have obeyed, and we have done all that Jehonadab, our ancestor,[h] commanded us. 11 But then[i] at the coming up against the land of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, then we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before[j] the army of the Chaldeans, and before[k] the army of the Arameans.’[l] That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,[m] 13 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and say to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Can you not learn a lesson to listen to my words?” declares[n] Yahweh. 14 “The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his descendants[o] to not drink, have been carried out, and they have not drunk until this day, for they have obeyed the command of their ancestor.[p] But I have spoken to you over and over again,[q] and you have not listened to me. 15 And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, I have sent them over and over again,[r] saying,[s] ‘Turn back please each one from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and you must not go after other gods to serve them, so that you may live[t] on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.’[u] But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me. 16 For the descendants[v] of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have carried out the command of their ancestor[w] that he commanded them, but this people did not listen to me.”
17 Therefore[x] thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Look, I am going to bring to Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, and I have called to them and they have not answered.”’” 18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your ancestor,[y] and you have kept all his commands, and you have done all that he commanded you,’ 19 therefore[z] thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘A man will not be cut off for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to stand before me[aa] always.’”[ab]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 35:1 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 35:5 Literally “gave”
- Jeremiah 35:5 Literally “to the face of”
- Jeremiah 35:6 Or “father”
- Jeremiah 35:6 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 35:6 Literally “until eternity”
- Jeremiah 35:8 Or “father”
- Jeremiah 35:10 Or “father”
- Jeremiah 35:11 Literally “And it was”
- Jeremiah 35:11 “from the face of”
- Jeremiah 35:11 “from the face of”
- Jeremiah 35:11 Hebrew “Aramean”
- Jeremiah 35:12 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 35:13 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 35:14 Or “children”
- Jeremiah 35:14 Or “father”
- Jeremiah 35:14 Literally “I have spoken to you doing early and speaking”
- Jeremiah 35:15 Literally “doing early and sending”
- Jeremiah 35:15 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 35:15 Literally “and live”
- Jeremiah 35:15 Or “fathers”
- Jeremiah 35:16 Or “children”
- Jeremiah 35:16 Or “father”
- Jeremiah 35:17 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 35:18 Or “father”
- Jeremiah 35:19 Literally “to thus”
- Jeremiah 35:19 Literally “to the face of me”
- Jeremiah 35:19 Literally “all the days”
Jeremiah 35
Common English Bible
35 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word during the rule of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son: 2 Go to the Rechabite family and invite them to come to one of the rooms of the Lord’s temple. When they arrive, offer them some wine to drink. 3 So I took Jaazaniah, Jeremiah’s son and Habazziniah’s grandson, and his brothers and all his sons, and the whole Rechabite family. 4 I brought them to the room in the Lord’s temple assigned to the sons of Hanan, Igdaliah’s son, the man of God. The room was next to the one used by the chief officers and right above the room of Maaseiah, Shallum’s son, the temple doorkeeper.[a] 5 Then I set bowls full of wine before the Rechabites, along with several cups, and I said to them, “Have some.”
6 But they refused: “We don’t drink wine because our ancestor Jonadab, Rechab’s son, commanded us, ‘You and your children are never to drink wine; 7 nor are you to build or own houses or plant gardens and vineyards; rather, you are always to dwell in tents so you may live a long time in the fertile land you pass through.’ 8 We have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab, Rechab’s son, commanded us. No one in our household, including our wives and children, has ever had wine. 9 And we haven’t built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields, or crops. 10 We have lived in tents and done everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11 But when Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar invaded the country, we said, ‘We better go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies.’ That’s why we’re here in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the Lord’s word came to Jeremiah: 13 The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Go and tell the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem: Can’t you learn a lesson about what it means to obey me? declares the Lord. 14 Jonadab, Rechab’s son, commanded his descendants not to drink wine, and to this very day they have not drunk wine, obeying their ancestor’s instruction. But I have spoken to you again and again, and you haven’t listened to me. 15 I have sent you all my servants, the prophets, time and again, saying, “Each of you, turn from your evil ways and reform your actions; don’t worship or serve other gods. Then you may live in the fertile land I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you haven’t paid attention or listened to me. 16 The descendants of Jonadab, Rechab’s son, have thoroughly obeyed their ancestor, but this people have not listened to me. 17 Therefore, this is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to bring upon the people of Judah and all those who live in Jerusalem the disaster I pronounced against them, because they wouldn’t listen to me or respond when I called.
18 Then Jeremiah said to the Rechabite family: The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Because you have obeyed all Jonadab’s instructions and you have done everything he commanded you, 19 the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel proclaims: Jonadab, Rechab’s son, will always have a descendant that stands before me.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 35:4 Or keeper of the threshold
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