Jeremiah

The Rechabites

A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah during the reign of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah:

“Go to the Rechabite family; speak to them and bring them into a room in the house of the Lord; then give them wine to drink.”

So I went to get Jaazaniah, son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, along with his brothers and sons, and all the household of the Rechabites.

I brought them to the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan, son of Igdaliah, the man of God. It was near the room of the leaders, which is above the room of the doorkeeper Maaseiah, son of Shallum.

I then placed pitchers of wine and cups before the Rechabites and told them: “Drink wine!”

But they answered: “We don’t drink wine because our father Jonadab, son of Rechab, commanded us: ‘Never drink wine, you and your children;

don’t build a house and don’t sow seeds. You shall not plant or own a vineyard; do nothing like that, but live in tents all your days so that you may live for a long time in the land where you dwell!’

We have obeyed all the commands of our father Jonadab, son of Rechab, not to drink wine as long as we live—neither we nor our wives, nor our sons, nor our daughters.

We haven’t built houses to live in, and we own no vineyards, fields, or seeds.

We live in tents and follow all the instructions that our father Jonadab gave us.

Still, when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked the land, we said, “Come, we shall go to Jerusalem to escape from the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.” This is why we are now staying in Jerusalem.

The Lord spoke again to Jeremiah:

“The Lord, the God of Hosts and the God of Israel, commands you to go and tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem: Will you reject correction and refuse to listen to what I say?—word of the Lord.

Jonadab, son of Rechab, commanded his children not to drink wine, and they have obeyed his instructions; to this day, they have followed their father’s command by not drinking wine. As for you, I have spoken to you repeatedly, but you still haven’t listened to me!

I have sent my servants, the prophets, again and again, saying: ‘Turn away from your wickedness, change your ways, and stop following other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I gave you and your ancestors.’ But you have not listened or taken my words to heart.

The descendants of Jonadab, son of Rechab, have obeyed their father’s command, but this nation has not obeyed me.

Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Hosts and the God of Israel, says: “I am going to bring all the disaster I have foretold to Judah and to everyone living in Jerusalem because I spoke and they would not listen; I called, and they would not respond.”

Then Jeremiah said to the Rechabites: “This is what the Lord God of Hosts and God of Israel says: ‘Because you have been obedient to your father Jonadab and followed all his instructions because you have acted according to his commands,

because of that—word of the Lord—Jonadab shall always have a descendant to stand before me.”