Jeremiah 35:6-11

6“We do not drink wine,” they replied, “for our forefather Jonadab1 son of Rechab commanded us, ‘Neither you nor your descendants are ever to drink wine. 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.’

8And we have obeyed the voice of our forefather Jonadab son of Rechab in all he commanded us. So we have not drunk wine all our lives—neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters. 9Nor have we built houses in which to live, and we have not owned any vineyards or fields or crops. 10But we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done exactly as our forefather Jonadab commanded us.

11So when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched into the land, we said: ‘Come, let us go into Jerusalem to escape the armies of the Chaldeans2 and the Arameans.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”