Add parallel Print Page Options

The Rechabites Listen to Jonadab

35 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh 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 Yahweh, into one of the (C)chambers, and give them wine to drink.” Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the (D)man of God, which was beside the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, (E)the doorkeeper. Then I put 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. And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but (J)tents you shall inhabit all your days, that you may live (K)many days in the land where you (L)sojourn.’ So we have (M)listened to the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to inhabit; and we (N)do not have vineyard or field or seed. 10 We have only (O)inhabited tents and have listened and have done according to all that (P)Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But it happened that when (Q)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, let us (R)come to Jerusalem before the military force of the Chaldeans and before the military force of the Arameans.’ So we have inhabited Jerusalem.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 35:5 Lit sons

The Rechabites’ Example

35 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim(A) son of Josiah, king of Judah: “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them,(B) and bring them to one of the chambers(C) of the temple of the Lord to offer them a drink of wine.”

So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the entire house of the Rechabites— and I brought them into the temple of the Lord to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God,(D) who had a chamber near the officials’ chamber, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper. I set jars filled with wine and some cups before the sons of the house of the Rechabites and said to them, “Drink wine!”

But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab,(E) son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded: ‘You and your sons must never drink wine. You must not build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you. Rather, you must live in tents your whole life, so you may live a long time on the soil where you stay as a temporary resident.’(F) We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, in all he commanded us. So we haven’t drunk wine our whole life—we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters. We also have not built houses to live in and do not have vineyard, field, or seed. 10 But we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done as our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11 However, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched into the land,(G) we said: Come, let’s go into Jerusalem to get away from the Chaldean and Aramean armies. So we have been living in Jerusalem.”

Read full chapter