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The Recabite Family Obeys God

35 When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah [C ruled 609–597 bc], the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: “Go to the ·family [L house] of Recab. Invite them to come to one of the ·side rooms [chambers] of the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord, and offer them wine to drink.”

So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah [C not the prophet, but a man with the same name], the son of Habazziniah. And I gathered all of Jaazaniah’s brothers and sons and the whole ·family [L house] of the Recabites together. Then I brought them into the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. We went into the ·room [chamber] of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, who was a man of God. The ·room [chamber] was next to the one where the officers stay and above the ·room [chamber] of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the ·doorkeeper in the Temple [L guard/keeper of the threshold]. Then I put some ·bowls [pitchers] full of wine and some cups before the men of the Recabite ·family [L house]. And I said to them, “Drink some wine.”

But the Recabite men answered, “We never drink wine. Our ·ancestor [father] Jonadab son of Recab [2 Kin. 10:15–17] gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. Also you must never build houses, ·plant [L sow] seeds, or plant vineyards, or do any of those things. You must live only in tents all your days. Then you will live ·a long time [L many days] in the land where you are ·wanderers [sojourners; resident aliens].’ So we Recabites ·have obeyed everything [L listened to the voice of] Jonadab our ·ancestor [father] commanded us. Neither we nor our wives, sons, or daughters ever drink wine. We never build houses in which to live, or own fields or vineyards, or ·plant crops [L seed]. 10 We have lived in tents and have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ·attacked Judah [L came up to the land], we said to each other, ‘Come, we must enter Jerusalem ·so we can escape [L from before] the ·Babylonian [L Chaldean] army and the Aramean army.’ So we have stayed [lived] in Jerusalem [C though they may not be living in houses, in conformity to their ancestor’s command].”

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The Rechabites’ Obedience

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord 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 the Lord, into one of the (C)chambers, and give them wine to drink.” So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons, and all the household of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the (D)man of God, which was next to the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, (E)the doorkeeper. Then I set 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. You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed nor plant a vineyard, nor [b]own one; but you shall live in (J)tents all your days, so that you may live (K)many days [c]in the land where you (L)live as strangers.’ And we have (M)obeyed 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 live in; and we (N)do not have a vineyard, a field, or seed. 10 But we have (O)lived only in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that our father (P)Jonadab commanded us. 11 However, when (Q)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let’s (R)go to Jerusalem away from the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ So we have lived in Jerusalem.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 35:5 Lit sons
  2. Jeremiah 35:7 Lit shall it be to you
  3. Jeremiah 35:7 Lit on the face of the