“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you.
Parallel translations
- KJV Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
- BSB Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
- NKJV ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
- NASB ‘Keep the Sabbath day to treat it as holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
- NLT “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel must keep the Sabbath day holy as God commanded. The fourth commandment sets apart a day for rest and worship.
Overview
God commands that the Sabbath be observed and treated as holy, distinct from ordinary days. Here Deuteronomy roots the Sabbath in redemption rather than creation (as in Exodus). Christians honor the principle of holy rest, with most seeing its fulfillment and a new pattern in Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath who gives true rest (Matthew 11:28, Hebrews 4:9-10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Exod 20:8–11“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- Isa 58:13“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words:
- Isa 56:6Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to serve him, and to love Yahweh’s name, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 5:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.