The Daily Audio Bible

The Rechabites’ Obedience

35 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^(A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² “Go to the house of the ^(B)Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the ^(C)chambers, and give them wine to drink.” ³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, 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 the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the ^(D)man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(E)the doorkeeper. ⁵ Then I set before the ^[a]men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, “^(F)Drink wine!” ⁶ But they said, “We will not drink wine, for ^(G)Jonadab the son of ^(H)Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall ^(I)not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in ^(J)tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live ^(K)many days in the land where you ^(L)sojourn.’ ⁸ We have ^(M)obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or our daughters, ⁹ nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we ^(N)do not have vineyard or field or seed. ¹⁰ We have only ^(O)dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that ^(P)Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But when ^(Q)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come and let us ^(R)go to Jerusalem before the army of the Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans.’ So we have dwelt in Jerusalem.”

Judah Rebuked

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “^(S)Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?” declares the Lord. ¹⁴ “The ^(T)words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you ^[b](U)again and again; yet you have ^(V)not listened to Me. ¹⁵ Also I have sent to you all My ^(W)servants the prophets, sending them ^[c]again and again, saying: ‘^(X)Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and ^(Y)do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will ^(Z)dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not ^(AA)inclined your ear or listened to Me. ¹⁶ Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have ^(AB)observed the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.’”’ ¹⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^(AC)I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I ^(AD)spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.’”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have ^(AE)obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you; ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of Rechab ^(AF)shall not lack a man to ^(AG)stand before Me ^[d]always.”’”

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple

36 In the ^(AH)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “Take a ^[e](AI)scroll and write on it all the ^(AJ)words which I have spoken to you concerning ^(AK)Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the ^(AL)nations, from the ^(AM)day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. ^3 (AN)Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will ^(AO)turn from his evil way; then I will ^(AP)forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah called ^(AQ)Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a ^[f](AR)scroll ^[g]at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. ⁵ Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am ^[h](AS)restricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord. ⁶ So you go and ^(AT)read from the scroll which you have ^(AU)written ^[i]at my dictation the words of the Lord ^[j]to the people in the Lord’s house on a ^(AV)fast day. And also you shall read them ^[k]to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. ^7 (AW)Perhaps their supplication will ^[l]come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for ^(AX)great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” ⁸ Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, ^(AY)reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

⁹ Now in the ^(AZ)fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ^(BA)ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who ^(BB)came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a ^(BC)fast before the Lord. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the ^(BD)chamber of ^(BE)Gemariah the son of Shaphan the ^(BF)scribe, in the upper court, at the ^(BG)entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, to all the people.

¹¹ Now when ^(BH)Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book, ¹² he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—^(BI)Elishama the scribe, and ^(BJ)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and ^(BK)Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. ¹³ Micaiah ^(BL)declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people. ¹⁴ Then all the officials sent ^(BM)Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah ^(BN)took the scroll in his hand and went to them. ¹⁵ They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch ^(BO)read it to them. ¹⁶ When they had heard all the words, they turned in ^(BP)fear one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely ^(BQ)report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, ^(BR)how did you write all these words? Was it ^[m]at his dictation?” ¹⁸ Then Baruch said to them, “He ^(BS)dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, ^(BT)hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

The Scroll Is Burned

²⁰ So they went to the ^(BU)king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of ^(BV)Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi ^(BW)read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. ²² Now the king was sitting in the ^(BX)winter house in the ^(BY)ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. ²³ When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and ^(BZ)threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. ²⁴ Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were ^(CA)not afraid, nor did they ^(CB)rend their garments. ²⁵ Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah ^(CC)pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to ^(CD)seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the ^(CE)Lord hid them.

The Scroll Is Replaced

²⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had ^(CF)burned the scroll and the words which ^(CG)Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, ²⁸ “^(CH)Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were ^(CI)on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. ²⁹ And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have ^(CJ)burned this scroll, saying, ‘^(CK)Why have you written on it ^[n]that the ^(CL)king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?’” ³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have ^(CM)no one to sit on the throne of David, and his ^(CN)dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I will also ^(CO)punish him and his ^[o]descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I will ^(CP)bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.”’”

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he ^(CQ)wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many ^[p]similar words were added to them.

Honor Widows

5 ^(A)Do not sharply rebuke an ^(B)older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to ^(C)the younger men as brothers, ² the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.

³ Honor widows who are ^(D)widows indeed; ⁴ but if any widow has children or grandchildren, ^(E)they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to ^[a]make some return to their parents; for this is ^(F)acceptable in the sight of God. ⁵ Now she who is a ^(G)widow indeed and who has been left alone, ^(H)has fixed her hope on God and continues in ^(I)entreaties and prayers night and day. ⁶ But she who ^(J)gives herself to wanton pleasure is ^(K)dead even while she lives. ^7 [b](L)Prescribe these things as well, so that they may be above reproach. ⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has ^(M)denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹ A widow is to be ^(N)put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been ^(O)the wife of one man, ¹⁰ having a reputation for ^(P)good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has ^(Q)shown hospitality to strangers, if she ^(R)has washed the ^[c]saints’ feet, if she has ^(S)assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. ¹¹ But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel ^(T)sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, ¹² thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous ^[d]pledge. ¹³ At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also ^(U)gossips and ^(V)busybodies, talking about ^(W)things not proper to mention. ¹⁴ Therefore, I want younger widows to get ^(X)married, bear children, ^(Y)keep house, and ^(Z)give the enemy no occasion for reproach; ¹⁵ for some ^(AA)have already turned aside to follow ^(AB)Satan. ¹⁶ If any woman who is a believer ^(AC)has dependent widows, she must ^(AD)assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are ^(AE)widows indeed.

Concerning Elders

^17 (AF)The elders who ^(AG)rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who ^(AH)work hard ^[e]at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “^(AI)You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “^(AJ)The laborer is worthy of his wages.” ¹⁹ Do not receive an accusation against an ^(AK)elder except on the basis of ^(AL)two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Those who continue in sin, ^(AM)rebuke in the presence of all, ^(AN)so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. ^21 (AO)I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. ^22 (AP)Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and ^[f]thereby share ^(AQ)responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself ^[g]free from sin.

²³ No longer drink water exclusively, but ^(AR)use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁴ The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins ^(AS)follow after. ²⁵ Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and ^(AT)those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.