Jeremiah 35

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

The message given to Jeremiah by God during Jehoiakim's reign, son of Josiah, king of Judah, was:

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

Go to the Rechabites' home, talk to them, and take them to God's house, to a room. There, give them wine to drink.

Then 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;

Then I gathered Jaazaniah, Jeremiah's son, Habaziniah's grandson, his brothers, his sons, and all the Rechabite family.

And I brought them into the house of the LORD, 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:

I took them to God's house and placed them in the room of Hanan's sons, where a godly man named Igdaliah lived. This room was located above another room that belonged to Maaseiah, who worked as a doorkeeper, and was also above the rooms of the leaders.

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

I placed large containers of wine along with cups in front of the children from the Rechabite family and told them to drink the wine.

But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

But they replied, "We won't drink wine." Because Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, told us, "You and your children must never drink wine."

Neither 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 many days in the land where ye be strangers.

You won't build houses, plant seeds, or grow vineyards. You can't own anything. Instead, you'll live in tents. This way, you can live a long time in the land even though it's not your own.

Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

So, we followed Jonadab's instructions just like our dad taught us. We didn't drink any alcohol - not us, our spouses, our kids, or our grandkids.

Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

We don't build homes for living or have vineyards, fields, or seeds.

But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

But we lived in tents and followed his orders, doing everything just like our father Jonadab told us to.

But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar 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 Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.

When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land, we decided to go to Jerusalem out of fear of the Chaldean and Syrian armies. So, we lived in Jerusalem.

Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

Then, the LORD spoke to Jeremiah, saying,

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.

So says the Lord, the God of Israel: Ask the people of Judah and those in Jerusalem, "Won't you listen to my teachings?" asks the Lord.

The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

Jonadab's son Rechab told his children not to drink wine and they followed his advice. They still don't drink wine today because of their father's command. However, even though I spoke to you early and often, you didn't listen.

I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man 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 unto me.

I sent all my prophets to you, warning you early on to stop doing bad things, to change your ways, and not to worship other gods. If you listen, you can stay in the land I gave to you and your ancestors. But you didn't pay attention or listen to me.

Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:

Because the descendants of Jonadab, Rechab's son, followed their father's instructions, but this crowd isn't listening to me.

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

So, God says this: Bad things will happen to Judah and the people in Jerusalem because they didn't listen or respond when I warned them.

And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:

Jeremiah told the Rechabites' family, "God says, 'I am the powerful Lord, the God of Israel. You obeyed your dad Jonadab's orders, followed all his rules, and did everything he asked. So I will reward you.'"

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

So, the Lord says this through his messenger: Jonadab, son of Rechab, will always have someone to represent him before me.