Jeremiah 35
35
Meeting in God’s Temple
1The Message that Jeremiah received from God ten years earlier, during the time of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Israel:
2“Go visit the Recabite community. Invite them to meet with you in one of the rooms in God’s Temple. And serve them wine.”
3-4So I went and got Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, along with all his brothers and sons—the whole community of the Recabites as it turned out—and brought them to God’s Temple and to the meeting room of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. It was next to the meeting room of the Temple officials and just over the apartment of Maaseiah son of Shallum, who was in charge of Temple affairs.
5Then I set out chalices and pitchers of wine for the Recabites and said, “A toast! Drink up!”
6-7But they wouldn’t do it. “We don’t drink wine,” they said. “Our ancestor Jonadab son of Recab commanded us, ‘You are not to drink wine, you or your children, ever. Neither shall you build houses or settle down, planting fields and gardens and vineyards. Don’t own property. Live in tents as nomads so that you will live well and prosper in a wandering life.’
8-10“And we’ve done it, done everything Jonadab son of Recab commanded. We and our wives, our sons and daughters, drink no wine at all. We don’t build houses. We don’t have vineyards or fields or gardens. We live in tents as nomads. We’ve listened to our ancestor Jonadab and we’ve done everything he commanded us.
11“But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded our land, we said, ‘Let’s go to Jerusalem and get out of the path of the Chaldean and Aramean armies, find ourselves a safe place.’ That’s why we’re living in Jerusalem right now.”
Why Won’t You Learn Your Lesson?
12-15a Then Jeremiah received this Message from God: “God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, wants you to go tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem that I say, ‘Why won’t you learn your lesson and do what I tell you?’ God’s Decree. ‘The commands of Jonadab son of Recab to his sons have been carried out to the letter. He told them not to drink wine, and they haven’t touched a drop to this very day. They honored and obeyed their ancestor’s command. But look at you! I have gone to a lot of trouble to get your attention, and you’ve ignored me. I sent prophet after prophet to you, all of them my servants, to tell you from early morning to late at night to change your life, make a clean break with your evil past and do what is right, to not take up with every Tom, Dick, and Harry of a god that comes down the pike, but settle down and be faithful in this country I gave your ancestors.
15b-16 “‘And what do I get from you? Deaf ears. The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab carried out to the letter what their ancestor commanded them, but this people ignores me.’
17“So here’s what is going to happen. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘I will bring calamity down on the heads of the people of Judah and Jerusalem—the very calamity I warned you was coming—because you turned a deaf ear when I spoke, turned your backs when I called.’”
18-19Then, turning to the Recabite community, Jeremiah said, “And this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says to you: ‘Because you have done what Jonadab your ancestor told you, obeyed his commands and followed through on his instructions, receive this Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab at my service! Always!’”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Jeremiah 35
35
The Faithfulness of the Rechabites
1The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying,#Literally “to say” 2“Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of Yahweh into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” 3So I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole of the house of the Rechabites, 4and I brought them to the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was beside the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.
5Then I set#Literally “gave” before#Literally “to the face of” the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6But they answered, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,#Or “father” commanded us, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your children, forever.#Literally “until eternity” 7And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard, and it shall not be for you, but in tents you shall live all your days, so that you may live many days on the surface of the land where you are dwelling as aliens.’ 8And we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,#Or “father” in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9and not to build houses for our living, and there is not vineyard, or field, or seed for us. 10But we have lived in tents, and we have obeyed, and we have done all that Jehonadab, our ancestor,#Or “father” commanded us. 11But then#Literally “And it was” at the coming up against the land of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, then we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before#“from the face of” the army of the Chaldeans, and before#“from the face of” the army of the Arameans.’#Hebrew “Aramean” That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”
12And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,#Literally “to say” 13“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and say to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Can you not learn a lesson to listen to my words?” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh. 14“The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his descendants#Or “children” to not drink, have been carried out, and they have not drunk until this day, for they have obeyed the command of their ancestor.#Or “father” But I have spoken to you over and over again,#Literally “I have spoken to you doing early and speaking” and you have not listened to me. 15And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, I have sent them over and over again,#Literally “doing early and sending” saying,#Literally “to say” ‘Turn back please each one from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and you must not go after other gods to serve them, so that you may live#Literally “and live” on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.’#Or “fathers” But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me. 16For the descendants#Or “children” of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have carried out the command of their ancestor#Or “father” that he commanded them, but this people did not listen to me.”
17Therefore#Literally “To thus” thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Look, I am going to bring to Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, and I have called to them and they have not answered.” ’ ” 18But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your ancestor,#Or “father” and you have kept all his commands, and you have done all that he commanded you,’ 19therefore#Literally “to thus” thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘A man will not be cut off for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to stand before me#Literally “to the face of me” always.’ ”#Literally “all the days”
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