Ezekiel 20:12-20

New International Version

¹² Also I gave them my Sabbaths^(A) as a sign^(B) between us,^(C) so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.^(D)

¹³ “‘Yet the people of Israel rebelled^(E) against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws^(F)—by which the person who obeys them will live—and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths.^(G) So I said I would pour out my wrath^(H) on them and destroy^(I) them in the wilderness.^{(J) 14} But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned^(K) in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.^{(L) 15} Also with uplifted hand I swore^(M) to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands^(N)— ¹⁶ because they rejected my laws^(O) and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts^(P) were devoted to their idols.^{(Q) 17} Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy^(R) them or put an end to them in the wilderness. ¹⁸ I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the statutes of your parents^(S) or keep their laws or defile yourselves^(T) with their idols. ¹⁹ I am the Lord your God;^(U) follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.^{(V) 20} Keep my Sabbaths^(W) holy, that they may be a sign^(X) between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.^(Y)”