Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
- BSB Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
- NKJV “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
- NASB “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest.
- NLT “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.
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 work six days and rest the seventh, even during the busiest farming seasons.
Overview
The Sabbath command is restated with special force: even plowing and harvest, when labor pressed hardest, must yield to rest. This guarded Israel from trusting their own toil rather than God's provision. The Sabbath ultimately points to the rest believers find in Christ, who invites the weary to come to Him (Matthew 11:28; Hebrews 4:9-10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 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 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.
- Deut 21:4And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley:
- 1 Sam 8:12And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
- 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.
- Luke 23:56And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
- Isa 30:24The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
- Deut 5:12–15Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
- Exod 20:9–11Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
- Gen 45:6For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
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 34:21 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
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