1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah the king of Judah, saying,

2 Go to the house of the Rechabites, and talk to them, and take them to one of the rooms in the house of the LORD, and offer them a drink of wine.

3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the entire clan of the Rechabites;

4 And I took them into a room in the house of the LORD, occupied by the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, and next to the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the door-keeper:

5 And I placed cups and jars full of wine before the sons of the house of the Rechabites, and said to them, Drink wine.

6 But they said, We will not drink any wine: because our ancestor Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded us, saying, You and your descendants must never ever drink wine:

7 Nor shall you build a house, or sow seeds, or plant a vineyard, or own one: but you must always live in tents; so that you may live long in the country where you are strangers.

8 So we have obeyed the instruction of our ancestor Jonadab the son of Rechab in all that he commanded us. And we have not drunk wine our whole life, nor have our wives, our sons, or our daughters;

9 Nor do we build houses for us to live in: or own vineyards, fields, or seed:

10 But we have lived in tents, and have carefully done everything that Jonadab our father commanded us.

11 But when Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon invaded the country, we said, Come, let us go to Jerusalem to escape the Chaldeans, and the Aramean army: so we are living in Jerusalem.

12 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

13 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says this; Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not take a warning and listen to my words? says the LORD.

14 The command not to drink wine, that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, is followed; for to this day they do not drink any, but obey their ancestor’s instruction: but I have spoken to you, persistently; yet you have not paid attention to me.

15 I have also sent all my servants the prophets to you, repeatedly sending them, saying, Let every one of you turn from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not run after other gods to serve them, and you will remain in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers: but you refused to pay attention, or listen to me.

16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have carefully done what their father ordered them to do; while these people have not listened to me:

17 Therefore the LORD God of armies, the God of Israel says; Know that I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have warned them of: because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.

18 And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says; Because you have obeyed your father Jonadab, and followed all his instructions, doing exactly what he commanded you to do:

19 Therefore the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says; Jonadab the son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to stand before me.