Jeremiah 35

³⁵So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each according to his wealth.

³and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

²⁹You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’

¹In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

⁵⁵and the clans of the scribes who lived at Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

²⁶But the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the rooms and the treasuries of the house of God.

⁵Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.

⁶The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.

⁷Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide, and there were five cubits between the gate chambers. The inner threshold of the gate by the portico facing inward was one rod deep.

⁸Then he measured the portico of the gateway inside;

³³Those who were musicians, the heads of Levite families, stayed in the temple chambers and were exempt from other duties because they were on duty day and night.

¹¹Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare storerooms in the house of the Lord, and they did so.

¹This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

⁹Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the house of the Lord. There the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the house of the Lord.

¹⁴In keeping with the ordinances of his father David, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, and the Levites for their duties to offer praise and to minister before the priests according to the daily requirement. He also appointed gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for this had been the command of David, the man of God.

¹⁸The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.

⁶Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me.

¹⁸he was previously stationed at the King’s Gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers from the camp of the Levites.

¹⁹Shallum son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives from the Korahites were assigned to guard the thresholds of the Tent, just as their fathers had been assigned to guard the entrance to the dwelling of the Lord.

⁷Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:

¹²“But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

⁹My purpose in writing you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.

²“Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them to one of the chambers of the house of the Lord to offer them a drink of wine.”

¹⁵When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked, “Is your heart as true to mine as my heart is to yours?” “It is!” Jehonadab replied. “If it is,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him into his chariot,

⁵⁵and the clans of the scribes who lived at Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

¹⁵for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

⁹“You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink when you enter the Tent of Meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute for the generations to come.

¹⁴She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

⁷But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

¹⁰But we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done exactly as our forefather Jonadab commanded us.

¹²Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

²“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),

³“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”

⁴²You are to dwell in booths for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must dwell in booths,

⁴³so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

²⁷When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

¹⁴And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,

¹⁵and that they should proclaim this message and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”

²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

⁹For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.

²⁰My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

¹Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.

²For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my directive.

¹⁰Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.

¹A wise son heeds his father’s discipline, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

⁶Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.

⁷Nor are you ever to build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you. Instead, you must live in tents all your lives, so that you may live a long time in the land where you wander.’

¹⁶Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.

²⁶But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants?

¹⁴Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!”

¹⁴Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the Lord our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.

¹During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

²And the Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through His servants the prophets.

⁵Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’

⁶Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.

¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

²And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He carried these off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, where he put them in the treasury of his god.

²⁰But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.

²¹Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city.

¹⁴So when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

³³They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.

³O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.

⁹Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?

¹⁰For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”

⁸Be forewarned, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitant.”

⁹This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.”

¹²Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?

³“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

⁴And the Lord has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.

²Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.

⁹These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the Lord’s instruction.

⁷For from the time I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, I strongly warned them again and again, saying, ‘Obey My voice.’

²⁴Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

²⁵From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.

¹³And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,

¹¹Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’

⁵The prophets told you, ‘Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and deeds, and you can dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever.

⁶Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’

³⁰Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.

³¹Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?

¹Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.

²Bring your confessions and return to the Lord. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.

²⁰Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, all people of Judah and Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

²¹This is what the Lord says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

³Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place.

⁴Do not trust in deceptive words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

¹⁴The words of Jonadab son of Rechab have been carried out. He commanded his sons not to drink wine, and they have not drunk it to this very day because they have obeyed the command of their forefather. But I have spoken to you again and again, and you have not obeyed Me!

⁶“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the Lord of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

³The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”

²⁸Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

¹¹Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons.

¹²The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

²⁸The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.

²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

⁴So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

²¹But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

¹³And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,

¹²I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

³⁴O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

³⁵Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

²All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the Lord.

¹²Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁶Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

²“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

³⁶So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”

²⁴Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—

¹⁷For this is what the Lord says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,

¹⁸nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

⁵The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all workers of iniquity.

⁵⁵and the clans of the scribes who lived at Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.