Jeremiah 42

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the courtyards, and give them wine to drink.” [a] 3 So I brought out Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites, 4 and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hananiah son of Gedaliah, the man of God, which is next to the chamber of the rulers, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the keeper of the courtyard. [b] 5 I set before them a jug of wine and cups, and I said, “Drink wine.” 6 But they said, “We will not drink wine, because Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, You are never to drink wine, you or your sons, forever.” 7 “You are not to build a house or sow seed, and you are to have no vineyard, for you are to live in tents all your days, so that you may live many days on the land where you are staying.” 8 “And we have listened to the voice of Jonadab our father, so as to drink no wine all our days — we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters —” 9 “and so as to build no houses to live in; and we have had no vineyard or field or seed.” 10 “We have lived in tents, and we have listened and done everything that Jonadab our father commanded us.” 11 “But when Nebuchadnezzar came up against the land, we said, Come, let us go into Jerusalem, away from the army of the Chaldeans and away from the army of the Assyrians. And so we have been living there.” [c]

12 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 13 “This is what the Lord says: Go and say to the men of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem, Will you not take correction, so as to listen to my words?” 14 “The sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have kept the word he commanded his children, not to drink wine, and they have not drunk it. But I have spoken to you day after day, from early morning — I spoke, and you did not listen.” 15 “I sent you my servants the prophets, saying, Turn, each of you, from his evil way; make your conduct better; do not go after other gods to serve them, and you will live on the land I gave to you and your fathers. But you did not turn your ears, and you did not listen.” 16 “The sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have kept the command of their father, but this people has not listened to me.” 17 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Look, I am bringing on Judah and on those who live in Jerusalem all the disasters I have spoken against them.” [d] 18 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Because the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab listened to the command of their father, to do as their father commanded them,” 19 “there will never fail to be a man of the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab standing before me, all the days of the earth.” †