Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
- BSB Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
- NKJV Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
- NASB For six days you shall labor and do all your work,
- NLT You have six days each week for your ordinary work,
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
Six days are given for labor and ordinary work. God ordains honest work as a normal and good part of human life.
Overview
The command assumes and dignifies daily labor as part of God's good design before commanding rest. Work and rest together reflect God's own pattern in creation. This rhythm guards against both idleness and overwork, pointing to a life rightly ordered under God, who supplies all our needs in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 13:14And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
- 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.
- Exod 34:21Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
- 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.
- Exod 35:2Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 20:9 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.