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Jeremiah 35

35 A message that came from the Eternal to Jeremiah during the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the clan of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into one of the side-rooms in the temple of the Eternal; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah and the grandson of Habazziniah, with his brothers and all his sons and the whole clan of the Rechabites; 4 I brought them into the temple of the Eternal, into the side-room belonging to the sons of Hanan the son of Gedaliah, a man of God; it was near the side-room of the authorities and above the side-room belonging to Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the warden of the Threshold. 5 Then I put bowls full of wine and cups in front of the Rechabite clan, and told them to drink. 6 But they said, “We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab the son of Rechab gave us this order: ‘Never drink any wine, neither you nor your sons; 7 never build a house, never sow seed, never plant, never own a vineyard; live in tents all your days, so that you may live long on the earth where you are but pass- ing guests.’ 8 And we have obeyed our ancestor Jonadab the son of Rechab in every whit; we have drunk no wine, neither we nor our wives nor our sons nor our daughters; 9 we have built no houses to dwell in; we have neither vineyard nor field nor seed; 10 we have lived in tents, obeying our ancestor Jonadab in every whit. 11 It was only when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, that we thought we had better go to Jerusalem in order to escape the Babylonian and the Aramaean armies. That is why we are inside Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah. 13 “This is what the Lord of hosts says: Go and say to the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, ‘Will this not teach you to obey my words? says the Eternal. 14 What Jonadab the son of Rechab told his followers, his command to drink no wine, has been kept; to this day they drink no wine, in obedience to their ancestor’s command. But you have not listened to me, though I spoke to you earnestly and urgently. 15 I sent all my servants the prophets to tell you that if you gave up your evil courses, every man of you, and mended your ways, and ceased to follow foreign gods in worship, then you would remain in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers. But you would not attend, you would not listen to me. 16 So, as the followers of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command given them by their ancestors, while this people has not listened to me, 17 the Eternal, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, declares: Now am I about to bring upon Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the misery with which I threatened them; for I spoke to them but they would not listen, I called to them but they would not answer.’ ” 18 But to the clan of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Since you have kept the command of your ancestor Jonadab and carried out all his injunctions and done all that he ordered you, 19 the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, promises that Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to serve me in my ministry.’ ”