'Sabbath' in the Bible

then he said to them, “This is what the Lord meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.”

Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.

Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.”

See, the Lord has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.

So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’

“For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day.”

It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.

‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

‘You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths.

You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.

It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”

Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel.

“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the Lord.

but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you.

Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day.

‘Then on the sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering:

This is the burnt offering of every sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

He said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor sabbath.” And she said, “It will be well.”

He commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, who come in on the sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house

Two parts of you, even all who go out on the sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house of the Lord for the king.

So the captains of hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

The covered way for the sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entry of the king, he removed from the house of the Lord because of the king of Assyria.

Some of their relatives of the sons of the Kohathites were over the showbread to prepare it every sabbath.

This is the thing which you shall do: one third of you, of the priests and Levites who come in on the sabbath, shall be gatekeepers,

So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to go out on the sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss any of the divisions.

to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.

“So You made known to them Your holy sabbath,And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law,Through Your servant Moses.

As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego the crops the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. So I admonished them on the day they sold food.

Also men of Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the sabbath, even in Jerusalem.

Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day?

Did not your fathers do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath.”

It came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the sabbath day.

Then I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will use force against you.” From that time on they did not come on the sabbath.

And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day. For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.

A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.It is good to give thanks to the LordAnd to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

“Bring your worthless offerings no longer,Incense is an abomination to Me.New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

“How blessed is the man who does this,And the son of man who takes hold of it;Who keeps from profaning the sabbath,And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord,To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbathAnd holds fast My covenant;

“If because of the sabbath, you turn your footFrom doing your own pleasure on My holy day,And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,And honor it, desisting from your own ways,From seeking your own pleasureAnd speaking your own word,

“And it shall be from new moon to new moonAnd from sabbath to sabbath,All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord, “Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.

You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers.

“But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,

But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.”’”

And He has violently treated His tabernacle like a garden booth;He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.The Lord has caused to be forgottenThe appointed feast and sabbath in Zion,And He has despised king and priestIn the indignation of His anger.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “The gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut the six working days; but it shall be opened on the sabbath day and opened on the day of the new moon.

The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the Lord on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;

When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he goes out.

saying,“When will the new moon be over,So that we may sell grain,And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market,To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger,And to cheat with dishonest scales,

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.

But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent?

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him.

And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

They *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach.

And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.

The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent.

When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?

When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;

Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain.

But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.

The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.

And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”

And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?

And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely.

And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”

It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”

For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.