Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
Parallel translations
- WEB God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
- KJV And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
- NKJV Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
- NASB Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
- NLT And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
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
God blesses and sanctifies the seventh day as holy. He sets apart a day for rest, rooting the Sabbath in creation itself.
Overview
God blesses the seventh day and makes it holy, marking it off as special because on it he rested from all his creative work. This grounds the Sabbath in the very structure of creation, well before it was given to Israel at Sinai. Christians differ on how the Sabbath applies today, but all see in it God's gracious provision of rest, ultimately fulfilled in the rest Christ gives to the weary (Matthew 11:28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 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.
- Mark 2:27Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
- Ezek 20:12I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
- Exod 31:13–17“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.
- Luke 23:56Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.
- Exod 35:2–3For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death.
- Exod 34:21Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
- Jer 17:21–27This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
- Isa 58:13–14If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,
- Lev 25:2–3“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
- Neh 9:14You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses.
- Isa 56:2–7Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
- Exod 20:8–11Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- 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.
- Deut 5:12–14Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
- Exod 16:22–30On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person—and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.
- Heb 4:4–10For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.”
- Neh 13:15–22In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.
- Prov 10:22The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 2:3 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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