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12 Then the Lord’s message came to Jeremiah. 13 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,[a] told him, “Go and speak to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them,[b] ‘I, the Lord, say:[c] “You must learn a lesson from this[d] about obeying what I say.[e] 14 Jonadab son of Rechab ordered his descendants not to drink wine. His orders have been carried out.[f] To this day his descendants have drunk no wine because they have obeyed what their ancestor commanded them. But I[g] have spoken to you over and over again,[h] but you have not obeyed me. 15 I sent all my servants the prophets to warn you over and over again. They said, ‘Every one of you, stop doing the evil things you have been doing and do what is right.[i] Do not pay allegiance to other gods[j] and worship them. Then you can continue to live in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors.’ But you did not pay any attention or listen to me. 16 Yes,[k] the descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the orders that their ancestor gave them. But you people[l] have not obeyed me! 17 So I, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, say:[m] ‘I will soon bring on Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the disaster that I threatened to bring on them. I will do this because I spoke to them but they did not listen. I called out to them but they did not answer.’”’”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 35:13 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel.” For this title see 7:3 and the study note on 2:19.
  2. Jeremiah 35:13 tn Heb35:12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, “Go and say…‘Will you not learn…’”’” The use of the indirect introduction has been chosen here, as in 34:1-2, to try to cut down on the confusion created by embedding quotations within quotations.
  3. Jeremiah 35:13 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
  4. Jeremiah 35:13 tn The words “from this” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
  5. Jeremiah 35:13 tn Heb “Will you not learn a lesson…?” The rhetorical question here has the force, made explicit in the translation, of an imperative.
  6. Jeremiah 35:14 tn Heb “The words of Jonadab son of Rechab, that he commanded his descendants not to drink wine, have been carried out.” (For the construction of the accusative of subject after a passive verb illustrated here see GKC 388 §121.b.) The sentence has been broken down and made more direct to better conform to contemporary English style.
  7. Jeremiah 35:14 tn The vav (ו) plus the independent pronoun before the verb is intended to mark a sharp contrast. It is difficult, if not impossible, to render this in English other than as “But I.”
  8. Jeremiah 35:14 tn On this idiom (which occurs again in the following verse) see the translator’s note on 7:13 and compare its use in 7:13, 25; 11:7; 25:3, 4; 26:5; 29:19; 32:33; 35:14, 15; 44:9.
  9. Jeremiah 35:15 tn Heb “Turn, each of you, from his [= your] wicked way and make good your deeds.” Cf. 18:11, where the same idiom occurs with the added term of “make good your ways.”
  10. Jeremiah 35:15 tn Heb “Don’t go after/follow other gods.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom and see 11:10; 13:10; 25:6 for the same idiom.
  11. Jeremiah 35:16 tn This is an attempt to represent the particle כִּי (ki), which is probably not really intensive here (cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e) but is one of those causal uses of כִּי that BDB discusses on 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c, where the cause is really the failure of the people of Judah and Jerusalem to listen/obey. That is, the causal particle is at the beginning of the sentence so as not to interrupt the contrast drawn.
  12. Jeremiah 35:16 tn Heb “this people.” However, the speech is addressed to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, so the second person is retained in English. In addition to the stylistic difference that Hebrew exhibits in the rapid shifts between persons (second to third and third to second, which have repeatedly been noted and documented from GKC 462 §144.p), there may be a subtle rhetorical reason for the shift here. The shift from direct address to indirect address that characterizes this verse and the next may reflect the Lord’s rejection of the people he is addressing. A similar shift takes place in Wisdom’s address to the simpleminded, fools, and mockers in Prov 1:28-32 after the direct address of 1:22-27.
  13. Jeremiah 35:17 tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Armies, the God of Israel.” For the title see 7:13 and the study note on 2:19. The first person address is again used in the translation because this whole section is a speech from the Lord (see vv. 12-13).

12 And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,[a] 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[b] Yahweh. 14 “The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his descendants[c] to not drink, have been carried out, and they have not drunk until this day, for they have obeyed the command of their ancestor.[d] But I have spoken to you over and over again,[e] 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,[f] saying,[g] ‘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[h] on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.’[i] But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me. 16 For the descendants[j] of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have carried out the command of their ancestor[k] that he commanded them, but this people did not listen to me.”

17 Therefore[l] 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.”’”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 35:12 Literally “to say”
  2. Jeremiah 35:13 Literally “a declaration of”
  3. Jeremiah 35:14 Or “children”
  4. Jeremiah 35:14 Or “father”
  5. Jeremiah 35:14 Literally “I have spoken to you doing early and speaking”
  6. Jeremiah 35:15 Literally “doing early and sending”
  7. Jeremiah 35:15 Literally “to say”
  8. Jeremiah 35:15 Literally “and live”
  9. Jeremiah 35:15 Or “fathers”
  10. Jeremiah 35:16 Or “children”
  11. Jeremiah 35:16 Or “father”
  12. Jeremiah 35:17 Literally “To thus”