It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
- BSB It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.
- NKJV It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
- NASB It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, so that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.
- NLT It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you.
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 day is a Sabbath of solemn rest with self-affliction, a perpetual statute. Israel must cease work and humble themselves before God.
Overview
The Day of Atonement is the most solemn Sabbath, marked by complete rest and self-affliction, binding on Israel forever. Ceasing from work signified that atonement is God's work, not theirs to earn. This rest foreshadows the gospel rest of those who trust not in their own works but in the finished atonement of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Lev 23:32It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
- Isa 58:5Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
- Exod 31:15Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
- 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.
- Lev 25:4But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
- Isa 58:3Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 16:31 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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