The Recabite Family
35 When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. This was his message: 2 “Jeremiah, go to the family of Recab. Invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the Temple of the Lord. Offer them wine to drink.”
3 So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah.[a] Jeremiah was the son of Habazziniah. And I gathered all of Jaazaniah’s brothers and sons. I gathered the whole family of the Recabites together. 4 Then I brought them into the Temple of the Lord. We went into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah. Hanan was a man of God. The room was next to the one where the officers stay. It was over the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum. Maaseiah was the doorkeeper in the Temple. 5 Then I put some bowls full of wine and some cups before the Recabite family. And I said to them, “Drink some wine.”
6 But the Recabite people answered, “We never drink wine. It is because of our ancestor Jonadab son of Recab. He gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. 7 Also you must never build houses, plant seeds or plant vineyards. You must never do any of those things. You must live only in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are a wanderer.’ 8 So we Recabites have obeyed everything Jonadab our ancestor commanded us. We never drink wine. And our wives, sons and daughters never drink wine. 9 We never build houses in which to live. And we never own fields or vineyards. And we never plant crops. 10 We have lived in tents. And we have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11 But Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the country of Judah. We said to each other, ‘Come, we must enter Jerusalem. This is so we can escape the Babylonian army and the Aramean army.’ So we have stayed in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: Jeremiah, go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem: ‘You should learn a lesson and obey my message,’ says the Lord. 14 ‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine. And that command has been obeyed. Until today the descendants of Jonadab obeyed their ancestor’s command. They do not drink wine. But I am the Lord. I have given you messages again and again. But you did not obey me. 15 I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again. They said to you, “Each of you must stop doing evil. You must change and be good. Do not follow other gods to serve them. If you obey me, you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not listened or paid attention to my message. 16 The descendants of Jonadab obeyed the commands that their ancestor gave them. But the people of Judah have not obeyed me.’
17 “So the Lord God of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I said many disasters would come to Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem. I will soon bring every one of those disasters on them. I spoke to those people, but they refused to listen. I called out to them, but they did not answer me.’”
18 Then Jeremiah said to the Recabites, “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the commands of your ancestor Jonadab. You have followed all of Jonadab’s teachings. You have done everything he commanded.’ 19 So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab to serve me.’”
Footnotes
- 35:3 Jeremiah Not the prophet Jeremiah, but a different man with the same name.