Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- BSB Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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 26:2Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
- Lev 19:3Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
- Gen 2:3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
- Exod 31:13–16Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
- Lev 23:3Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
- Lev 19:30Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
- Isa 56:4–6For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
- Exod 16:23–30And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
- Exod 23:12Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
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.