Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- KJV Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- NKJV “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- NASB “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- NLT “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
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
The fourth commandment calls Israel to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. God sets apart regular rest and worship as sacred.
Overview
The Sabbath was a weekly day consecrated to rest and devotion, marking Israel as God's covenant people. Christians have differed on how the command applies now, some seeing it transferred to the Lord's Day, others as fulfilled in Christ. All agree Christ is our ultimate rest, offering the soul's true Sabbath (Matt. 11:28; Heb. 4:9-10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Lev 26:2You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.
- Lev 19:3Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
- Gen 2:3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
- Exod 31:13–16“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
- Lev 23:3For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
- Lev 19:30You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.
- Isa 56:4–6For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant—
- Exod 16:23–30He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”
- Exod 23:12For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 20:8 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.