1The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying:

2Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

3Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites,

4and brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door.

5And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine and cups, and I said to them, “Drink ye wine.”

6But they said, “We will not drink wine; for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, ye nor your sons, forever;

7neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live long in the land wherein ye are strangers.

8And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, neither we, nor our wives, nor our sons, nor our daughters;

9nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed;

10but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us.

11But it came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldaeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we dwell at Jerusalem.”

12Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, saying,

13Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will ye not receive instruction, to hearken to my words? saith Jehovah.

14The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, in which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, have been performed; for they have drunk no wine to this day, but have obeyed the commandment of their father. I also have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, but ye have not hearkened to me.

15And I have sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers; but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened to me.

16Since then the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, and this people have not hearkened to me;

17therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil which I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, and they have not hearkened, and I have called to them, and they have not answered.

18And to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab, your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all which he commanded you,

19therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: There shall not fail in the land of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, men to stand before me forever.