² By ^(A)the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and ^(B)He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created ^[a]and made.

^4 [b](C)This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in ^(D)the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. ^5 (E)Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, ^(F)for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to ^[c]cultivate the ground. ⁶ But a ^[d]mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole ^[e]surface of the ground. ⁷ Then the Lord God formed man of ^(G)dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and ^(H)man became a living ^[f]being. ⁸ The Lord God planted a ^(I)garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow ^(J)every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; ^(K)the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ Now a ^(L)river ^[g]flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four ^[h]rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it ^[i]flows around the whole land of ^(M)Havilah, where there is gold.

The Sign of the Sabbath

¹² The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹³ “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^(A)You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is ^(B)a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. ¹⁴ Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. ^(C)Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. ^15 (D)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a ^(E)sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; ^(F)whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. ¹⁶ So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to ^[a]celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ ^17 (G)It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; ^(H)for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”

¹⁸ When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses ^(I)the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, ^(J)written by the finger of God.

³ ‘^(A)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

¹² ‘^(A)Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

¹¹ I gave them My ^(A)statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by ^(B)which, if a man ^[a]observes them, he will live. ¹² Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a ^(C)sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. ¹³ But the house of Israel ^(D)rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, ^(E)by which, if a man ^[b]observes them, he will live; and My ^(F)sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I ^[c]resolved to ^(G)pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them. ¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Also ^(H)I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, ¹⁶ because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their ^(I)heart continually went after their idols. ¹⁷ Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not cause their ^(J)annihilation in the wilderness.

¹⁸ “I said to their ^[d](K)children in the wilderness, ‘^(L)Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. ^19 (M)I am the Lord your God; ^(N)walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and ^[e]observe them. ^20 (O)Sanctify My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ ²¹ But the ^(P)children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; they profaned My sabbaths. So I ^[f]resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness.

Keeping the Sabbath

¹⁹ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches ^[a]others to do the same, shall be called least ^(A)in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever ^[b]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁷ Jesus said to them, “^(A)The Sabbath ^[a]was made ^[b]for man, and ^(B)not man ^[c]for the Sabbath.

¹⁶ And He came to ^(A)Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, ^(B)He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and ^(C)stood up to read.