Jeremiah

636
army will fight against Jerusalem. They will
capture it, set it on fire, and burn it down.
And I will destroy the towns in the land of
Judah. They will become empty deserts. No
one will live there.’”
The Recabite Family’s Good Example
35 1During the time when Jehoiakim
was king of Judah, the message from
the Lord came to Jeremiah. Jehoiakim was
the son of King Josiah. This was the message
from the Lord: 2“Jeremiah, go to the Recabite
family. a Invite them to come to one of the side
rooms of the Temple* of the Lord. Offer them
wine to drink.”
3So I went to get Jaazaniahb son of
Jeremiah, c who was the son of Habazziniah.
And I got all of Jaazaniah’s brothers and
sons and the whole family of the Recabites
together. 4Then I brought them into the Temple
of the Lord. We went into the room of
the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah. Hanan
was a man of God. d The room was next to the
room where the princes of Judah stay. It was
over the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum.
Maaseiah was the doorkeeper in the Temple.
5Then I put some bowls full of wine and some
cups in front of the Recabite family. And I said
to them, “Drink some wine.”
6But the Recabite family answered, “We
never drink wine. We never drink it because
our ancestor* Jonadab son of Recab gave us
this command: ‘You and your descendants
must never drink wine. 7Also you must never
build houses, plant seeds, or plant vineyards.*
You must never do any of those things. You
must live only in tents. If you do that, you
will live a long time in the land where you
move from place to place.’ 8So we have
obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded
us. None of us ever drinks wine, and
neither do our wives, sons, or daughters. 9We
never build houses to live in, we never own
vineyards or fields, and we never plant crops.
10We have lived in tents and have obeyed
everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded
us. 11But when King Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon attacked the country of Judah, we
did go into Jerusalem. We said to each other,
‘Come, we must enter the city of Jerusalem
so that we can escape the Babylonian army
and the Aramean army.’ So we have stayed
in Jerusalem.”
12Then this message from the Lord came to
Jeremiah: 13“The
of Israel, says to go and tell this message to
the people of Judah and to the people of Jerusalem:
‘You should learn a lesson and obey
my message.’ This message is from the Lord.
14‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not
to drink wine, and that command has been
obeyed. To this day the descendants of Jonadab
have obeyed their ancestor’s command.
They do not drink wine. But I am the Lord,
and I have given you people of Judah messages
again and again. But you did not obey
me.
Lord All- Powerful, the God
15I sent my servants the prophets to you
people of Israel and Judah. I sent them to you
again and again. They said, “You must each
stop doing evil things and do what is right.
Don’t follow other gods. Don’t worship or
serve them. If you obey me, you will live in
the land I have given to you and your ancestors.”
But you have not paid attention to
my message. 16The descendants of Jonadab
obeyed the commands that their ancestor
gave them, but the people of Judah have not
obeyed me.’
17“So this is what the Lord God All-
Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘I said that
many bad things would happen to Judah and
Jerusalem. I will soon make all those bad
things happen. I spoke to the people, but they
refused to listen. I called out to them, but
they didn’t answer me.’”
18Then Jeremiah said to the Recabite family,
“This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the
God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the commands
of your ancestor Jonadab. You have
followed all of his teachings. You have done
everything he commanded.’ 19So the Lord
All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘There
will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of
Recab to serve me.’”
King Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll
36 1The message from the Lord came to
Jeremiah. This was during the fourth
year that Jehoiakime son of Josiah was king of
Judah. This was the message from the Lord:
2“Jeremiah, get a scroll* and write on it all
the messages I have spoken to you. I have
spoken to you about the nations of Israel and
Judah and all the other nations. Write all the
words that I have spoken to you from the time
that Josiah was king, until now. 3Maybe the
people of Judah will hear what I am planning
to do to them and will stop doing bad things.
If they will do that, I will forgive them for the
terrible sins they have committed.”
4So Jeremiah called a man named Baruch
son of Neriah. Jeremiah spoke the messages
the Lord had given him. While he spoke,
Baruch wrote the messages on the scroll.
5Then Jeremiah said to Baruch, “I cannot go
to the Lord’s Temple.* I am not allowed to go
there. 6So
JEREMIAH 35:1
I want you to go to the Temple of
a 35:2 Recabite family A group of people descended
from Jonadab son of Recab. The family was very
loyal to the Lord. See 2 Kings 10:15‑28 for the story
of Jonadab. Also in verses 6, 18.
b 35:3 Jaazaniah He was the head of the Recabite
family at that time.
c 35:3 Jeremiah This is not the prophet Jeremiah,
but a different man with the same name.
d 35:4 man of God This is usually an honorable title
for a prophet. We know nothing else about Hanan.
e 36:1 the fourth year … Jehoiakim This was about
605 b.c.