1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, saying, 2 Go to the house of the Rechabites, and thou shalt bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the courts, and give them wine to drink.

3 So I brought forth Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and his sons, and all the family of the Rechabites; 4 and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Ananias, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, who dwells near the house of the princes that are over the house of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, who kept the court. 5 And I set before them a jar of wine, and cups, and I said, Drink ye wine.

6 But they said, We will on no account drink wine, for our father Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded us, saying, Ye shall on no account drink wine, neither ye, nor your sons forever: 7 nor shall ye at all build houses, nor sow any seed, nor shall ye have a vineyard: for ye shall dwell in tents all your days; that ye may live many days upon the land, in which ye sojourn. 8 And we hearkened to the voice of Jonadab our father, so as to drink no wine all our days, we, and our wives, and our sons, and our daughters; 9 and so as to build no houses to dwell in: and we have had no vineyard, nor field, nor seed: 10 but we have dwelt in tents, and have hearkened, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 And it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar came up against the land, that we said we would come in; and we entered into Jerusalem, for fear of the host of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the host of the Assyrians: and we dwelt there.

12 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 13 Thus saith the Lord, Go, and say to the men of Judah, and to them that dwell in Jerusalem, Will ye not receive correction to hearken to my words? 14 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the word which he commanded his children, that they should drink no wine; and they have not drunk it: but I spoke to you early, and ye hearkened not. 15 And I sent to you my servants the prophets, saying, Turn ye every one from his evil way, and amend your practices, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell upon the land which I gave to you and to your fathers: but ye inclined not your ears, and hearkened not. 16 But the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command of their father; but this people has not hearkened to me. 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evils which I pronounced against them.

18 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Since the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have hearkened to the command of their father, to do as their father commanded them: 19 there shall never be wanting a man of the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand before my face while the earth remains.