1 The words which the LORD spake unto Jeremiah, in the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, are these:
2 "Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and call them out, and bring them to the house of the LORD, into some commodious place, and give them wine to drink."
3 Then took I Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren and all his sons, and the whole household of the Rechabites:
4 and brought them to the house of the LORD, into the closet of the children of Hanan the son of Igdaliah the man of God: which was by the closet of the princes, that is above the closet of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, which is the chief of the treasury.
5 And before the sons of the kindred of the Rechabites, I set pots full of wine, and cups, and said unto them, "Drink wine."
6 But they said, "We drink no wine, for Jonadab the
7 yea, ye shall have no vineyards: but for all your time ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live long in the land, wherein ye be strangers.'
8 Thus have we obeyed the commandment of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father, in all that he hath charged us, and so we drink no wine all our life long: we, nor our wives, our sons, and our daughters.
9 Neither build we any house to dwell therein, we have also among us neither vineyards, nor corn land to sow:
10 but we dwell in tents, we obey, and do according unto all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
11 But now that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, 'Come, let us go to Jerusalem, that we may escape the host of the Chaldeans and the Assyrians: and so we dwell now at Jerusalem.'"
12 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
13 "Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Go and tell whole Judah and all the inhabiters of Jerusalem: Will ye not be reformed, to obey my words, sayeth the LORD?
14 The words which Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded his sons, that they should drink no wine, are fast and surely kept: for unto this day they drink no wine but obey their father's commandment. But as for me, I have stood up early, I have spoken unto you, and given you earnest warning: and yet have ye not been obedient unto me.
15 Yea, I have sent my servants, all the prophets, unto you. I rose up early, and sent you word, saying: O turn you, every man from his wicked way: amend your lives, and go not after strange gods, to worship them: that ye may continue in the land, which I have given unto you and your fathers. But ye would neither hear me, nor follow me.
16 The children of Jonadab Rechab's son have steadfastly kept their father's commandment that he gave them, but this people is not obedient unto me.
17 And therefore thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon everyone that dwelleth in Jerusalem, all the trouble that I have devised against them. For I have spoken unto them, but they would not follow: I have called unto them, nevertheless they would give me no answer."
18 Jeremiah also spake unto the household of the Rechabites, "Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Forsomuch as ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath bidden you:
19 Therefore thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not fail, but have one out of his stock, to stand always before me."