Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
Parallel translations
- WEB Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually. It is on the behalf of the children of Israel an everlasting covenant.
- BSB Every Sabbath day the bread is to be set out before the LORD on behalf of the Israelites as a permanent covenant.
- NKJV Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
- NASB Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel.
- NLT Every Sabbath day this bread must be laid out before the Lord as a gift from the Israelites; it is an ongoing expression of the eternal covenant.
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 bread was renewed every Sabbath as an everlasting covenant token on Israel's behalf. It marked God's ongoing relationship with his people.
Overview
Each Sabbath the priests replaced the loaves, keeping fresh bread continually before God as a sign of the everlasting covenant. The weekly renewal testified that fellowship with God is sustained by his faithfulness, not human achievement. The Sabbath rhythm and covenant bread point ahead to the rest and communion secured by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Num 4:7And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:
- 2 Chr 2:4Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
- 1 Chr 9:32And other of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the shewbread, to prepare it every sabbath.
- 1 Chr 23:29Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size;
- Neh 10:33For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.
- Matt 12:3–5But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
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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 24:8 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
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