Jérémie 35

The Rechabites keep their ancestor’s command

¹This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:^{a 2}“Go to the family of the Rechabites and speak with them. Bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the side rooms, and give them wine to drink.” ³So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, with his brothers and all his sons, the whole family of the Rechabites. ⁴I brought them into the house of the LORD, to the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God. It was next to the officials’ room, above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. ⁵Then I set pitchers full of wine and cups before the men of the Rechabite family, and I said to them, “Drink some wine.” ⁶But they answered, “We do not drink wine, because our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, ‘You must never drink wine, neither you nor your descendants. ⁷You must not build a house, sow seed or plant a vineyard; you must not own any of them. Instead, you must stay in tents all your lives, so that you may live many days in the land where you are outsiders.’ ⁸We have obeyed our ancestor Jehonadab son of Rechab in everything he commanded us: we do not drink wine as long as we live, neither we nor our wives, our sons or our daughters, ⁹and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard, no field and no seed to sow. ¹⁰We have lived in tents and have obeyed and done everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹But when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, we said, ‘Come, let us go to Jerusalem to escape the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ¹³“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Go and say to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not accept correction and listen to my words? declares the LORD. ¹⁴Jehonadab son of Rechab told his descendants not to drink wine, and his words have been kept: to this day they have not drunk it, because they obey their ancestor’s command. I, however, have spoken to you again and again, and you have not listened to me. ¹⁵I sent you all my servants the prophets again and again, saying, “Turn back, every one of you, from your evil way, and make your deeds good. Do not follow other gods to serve them, and you will live in the land I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay attention or listen to me. ¹⁶Yes, the descendants of Jehonadab son of Rechab have kept the command their ancestor gave them, but this people has not listened to me.

¹⁷Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: I am about to bring on Judah and on all who live in Jerusalem all the disaster I have announced against them, because I spoke to them and they did not listen, and I called to them and they did not answer.’” ¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rechabites, “The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jehonadab, kept all his commands and done all that he commanded you,

¹⁹therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Jonadab son of Rechab will never be without a descendant to stand before me for all time.”