The Obedience of the Rechabites
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The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of 1Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
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"Go to the house of the 2Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of 3the chambers; then offer them wine to drink."
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So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites.
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I brought them to the house of the LORD into 4the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, 5the man of God, which was near 6the chamber of the officials, above 7the chamber of 8Maaseiah the son of Shallum, 9keeper of the threshold.
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Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, "Drink wine."
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But they answered, "We will drink no wine, for 10Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, 'You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever.
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You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, 11that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.'
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We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,
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and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed,
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but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
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But 12when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, 'Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of 13the army of the Chaldeans and 14the army of the Syrians.'15So we are living in Jerusalem."
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Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
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"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 16Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the LORD.
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The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you 17persistently, but you have not listened to me.
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I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them 18persistently, saying, 19'Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and 20do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.'21But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.
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The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me.
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Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, 22because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, 23I have called to them and they have not answered."
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But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you,
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therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man 24to stand before me."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)