¹ Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

² But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did listen to the words of Yahweh, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

³ Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Yahweh our God for us.

⁴ Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison.

⁵ Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then came the word of Yahweh to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

⁷ Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.

⁸ The Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire.

⁹ Thus says Yahweh, Don't deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart.

¹⁰ For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

¹¹ It happened that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,

¹² then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people.

¹³ When he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are falling away to the Chaldeans.

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah said, It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he didn't listen to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.

¹⁵ The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;

¹⁷ Then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Yahweh? Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

¹⁸ Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

¹⁹ Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?

²⁰ Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

² Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of Yahweh, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.

³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

⁴ and I brought them into the house of Yahweh, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

⁵ I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, Drink wine!

⁶ But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever:

⁷ neither shall you build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents; that you may live many days in the land in which you live.

⁸ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;

⁹ nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

¹⁰ but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

¹¹ But it happened, when Nebuchadnezzar 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.

¹² Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying,

¹³ Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Go, and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words? says Yahweh.

¹⁴ The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to me.

¹⁵ I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and don't go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me.

¹⁶ Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me;

¹⁷ therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.

¹⁸ Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you;

¹⁹ therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.