1The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, and said,

2Go thou to the house of Rechabites, and speak thou to them; and thou shalt bring them into the house of the Lord, into one chamber of [the] treasuries [or treasures], and thou shalt give to them to drink wine.

3And I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremy, son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all the sons of him, and all the house of Rechabites.

4And I led them into the house of the Lord, to the treasury of the sons of Hanan, son of Igdaliah, the man of God; which treasury was beside the treasury of [the] princes, above the treasury of Maaseiah, son of Shallum, that was keeper of the vestiary.

5And I setted before the sons of the house of Rechabites pecks, and great cups full of wine; and I said to them, Drink ye wine.

6And they answered, We shall not drink wine; for why Jonadab, our father, the son of Rechab, commanded to us, and said, Ye shall not drink wine, ye and your sons, till into without end;

7and ye shall not build an house, and ye shall not sow seed, and ye shall not plant vines, neither shall have, but ye shall dwell in tabernacles in all your days, that ye live many days on the face of [the] earth, in which ye go in pilgrimage.

8Therefore we obeyed to the voice of Jonadab, our father, the son of Rechab, in all things which he commanded to us; so that we drank not wine in all our days, we, and our women, our sons, and daughters;

9and we builded not houses to dwell, and we had not a vinery [or vineyards], and a field, and seed;

10but we dwelled in tabernacles, and were obeying, and did by all things, which Jonadab, our father, commanded to us.

11But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had ascended [or gone up] to this land, we said, Come ye, and enter we into Jerusalem, from the face of the host of Chaldees, and from the face of the host of Syria; and we dwelled in Jerusalem.

12And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, and said,

13The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Go thou, and say to the men of Judah, and to the dwellers of Jerusalem, Whether ye shall not take teaching, that ye obey to my words, saith the Lord?

14The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, had the mastery, which he commanded to his sons, that they should not drink wine; and they drink not, unto this day; for they obeyed to the commandment of their father; but I spake to you, and I rose full early, and spake, and ye obeyed not to me.

15And I sent to you all my servants prophets, and I rose full early, and I sent, and said, Be ye converted, each man from his worst way, and make ye good your studies, and do not ye follow alien gods, neither worship ye them, and ye shall dwell in the land, which I gave to you, and to your fathers; and ye bowed not [in] your ear, neither heard me.

16Therefore the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab, made steadfast the commandment of their father, which he commanded to them; but this people obeyed not to me.

17Therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring on Judah, and on all the dwellers of Jerusalem, all the torment which I spake against them; for I spake to them, and they heard not; I called them, and they answered not to me.

18Forsooth Jeremy said to the house of Rechabites, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, For that that ye obeyed to the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his commandments, and did all things, which he commanded to you;

19therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, A man of the generation of Jonadab, son of Rechab, shall not fail standing in my sight in all days.