'Work' in the Bible

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner who lives within your gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.

Your own eyes have seen every great work the Lord has done.

Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come, eat, and be satisfied. And the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.

“You must consecrate to the Lord your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock.

You must eat unleavened bread for six days. On the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God, and you must not do any work.

You are to hold a seven-day festival for the Lord your God in the place He chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you will have abundant joy.

The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work.

“When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

‘The person who makes a carved idol or cast image, which is detestable to the Lord, the work of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret is cursed.’And all the people will reply, ‘Amen!’

The Lord will open for you His abundant storehouse, the sky, to give your land rain in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.

The Lord your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands with children, the offspring of your livestock, and your land’s produce. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers,

The Rock—His work is perfect;all His ways are entirely just.A faithful God, without prejudice,He is righteous and true.

Lord, bless his possessions,and accept the work of his hands.Smash the loins of his adversaries and enemies,so that they cannot rise again.

In the evening, an old man came in from his work in the field. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but was residing in Gibeah, and the men of that place were Benjaminites.

Then her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”Ruth told her mother-in-law about the men she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”

So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.”

He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys and use them for his work.

May it hang over Joab’s head and his father’s whole house, and may the house of Joab never be without someone who has a discharge or a skin disease, or a man who can only work a spindle, or someone who falls by the sword or starves.”

You, your sons, and your servants are to work the ground for him, and you are to bring in the crops so your master’s grandson will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants.

He removed the people who were in the city and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to labor at brickmaking. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

not including his 3,300 deputies in charge of the work. They ruled over the people doing the work.

He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze craftsman. Hiram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge to do every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.

The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. Then the work of the pillars was completed.

and on the frames between the cross-pieces were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the cross-pieces there was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

Then Hiram made the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling basins.So Hiram finished all the work that he was doing for King Solomon on the Lord’s temple:

So all the work King Solomon did in the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought in the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.

These were the deputies who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who ruled over the people doing the work.

Through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani the word of the Lord also came against Baasha and against his house because of all the evil he had done in the Lord’s sight, provoking Him with the work of his hands and being like the house of Jeroboam, and because Baasha had struck down the house of Jeroboam.

Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They in turn would pay it out to those working on the Lord’s temple—the carpenters, the builders,

Instead, it was given to those doing the work, and they repaired the Lord’s temple with it.

No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay those doing the work, since they worked with integrity.

It is to be put into the hands of those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple. They in turn are to give it to the workmen in the Lord’s temple to repair the damage.

But no accounting is to be required from them for the money put into their hands since they work with integrity.”

Then Shaphan the court secretary went to the king and reported, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the temple and have put it into the hand of those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple.”

because they have abandoned Me and burned incense to other gods in order to provoke Me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.

But Aaron and his sons did all the work of the most holy place. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offerings and on the altar of incense to make atonement for Israel according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

He brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and people skilled in every kind of work

in gold, silver, bronze, and iron—beyond number. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you.”

“Of these,” David said, “24,000 are to be in charge of the work on the Lord’s temple, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,

“but their duty will be to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the Lord’s temple, being responsible for the courts and the chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of God’s temple—

All of these were among the sons of Obed-edom with their sons and brothers; they were capable men with strength for the work—62 from Obed-edom.

From the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 capable men, had assigned duties in Israel west of the Jordan for all the work of the Lord and for the service of the king.

Also included were plans for the divisions of the priests and the Levites; all the work of service in the Lord’s house; all the articles of service of the Lord’s house;

Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won’t leave you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the Lord’s house is finished.

Here are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of God’s house. Every willing man of any skill will be at your disposal for the work, and the leaders and all the people are at your every command.”

the gold for the gold work and the silver for the silver, for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the Lord today?”

Then the leaders of the households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.

Therefore, send me a craftsman who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the craftsmen who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, appointed by my father David.

He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David.

Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.

He made two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold.

Then Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple:

So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to be slaves for his work; they were soldiers, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.

All of Solomon’s work was carried out from the day the foundation was laid for the Lord’s temple until it was finished. So the Lord’s temple was completed.

But as for you, be strong; don’t be discouraged, for your work has a reward.”

When Baasha heard about it, he quit building Ramah and stopped his work.

The workmen did their work, and through them the repairs progressed. They restored God’s temple to its specifications and reinforced it.

However, since there were not enough priests, they weren’t able to skin all the burnt offerings, so their Levite brothers helped them until the work was finished and until the priests consecrated themselves. For the Levites were more conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests were.

They put it into the hands of those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They gave it to the workmen who were working in the Lord’s temple, to repair and restore the temple;

The men were doing the work with integrity. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites from the Merarites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites as supervisors. The Levites were all skilled with musical instruments.

They were also over the porters and were supervising all those doing the work task by task. Some of the Levites were secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.

They have emptied out the money that was found in the Lord’s temple and have put it into the hand of the overseers and the hand of those doing the work.”

In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began to build. They appointed the Levites who were 20 years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord’s house.

Let it be known to the king that we went to the house of the great God in the province of Judah. It is being built with cut stones, and its beams are being set in the walls. This work is being done diligently and succeeding through the people’s efforts.

I hereby issue a decree concerning what you must do, so that the elders of the Jews can rebuild the house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men out of the royal revenues from the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that the work will not stop.

They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them in the work on the house of the God of Israel.

There were also 220 of the temple servants, who had been appointed by David and the leaders for the work of the Levites. All were identified by name.

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work.

I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and what the king had said to me.They said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and they were encouraged to do this good work.

And our enemies said, “They won’t know or see anything until we’re among them and can kill them and stop the work.”

When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall.

From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah,

Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “The work is enormous and spread out, and we are separated far from one another along the wall.

So we continued the work, while half of the men were holding spears from daybreak until the stars came out.

At that time, I also said to the people, “Let everyone and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”

Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my subordinates were gathered there for the work. We didn’t buy any land.

So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

For they were all trying to intimidate us, saying, “They will become discouraged in the work, and it will never be finished.”But now, my God, strengthen me.

the bread displayed before the Lord, the daily grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbath and New Moon offerings, the appointed festivals, the holy things, the sin offerings to atone for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

and their relatives who did the work at the temple: 822. Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah

and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the leaders of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God;

Haven’t You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

Is it good for You to oppress,to reject the work of Your hands,and favor the plans of the wicked?

You would call, and I would answer You.You would long for the work of Your hands.

When He is at work to the north, I cannot see Him;when He turns south, I cannot find Him.

God is not partial to princesand does not favor the rich over the poor,for they are all the work of His hands.

Remember that you should praise His work,which people have sung about.

serve as His sign to all mankind,so that all men may know His work.

Can you depend on it because its strength is great?Would you leave it to do your hard work?

When I observe Your heavens,the work of Your fingers,the moon and the stars,which You set in place,

The Lord has revealed Himself;He has executed justice,striking down the wickedby the work of their hands.Higgaion. Selah

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.The heavens declare the glory of God,and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.

Repay them according to what they have done—according to the evil of their deeds.Repay them according to the work of their hands;give them back what they deserve.

Because they do not considerwhat the Lord has doneor the work of His hands,He will tear them down and not rebuild them.

For the word of the Lord is right,and all His work is trustworthy.

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.God, we have heard with our ears—our ancestors have told us—the work You accomplished in their days,in days long ago:

They will be made to stumble;their own tongues work against them.All who see them will shake their heads.