²¹ Thus says the Lord: For the sake of your lives, take care that you do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.^(A)

Sabbath Reforms Begun

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens that they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, and I warned them at that time against selling food.^{(A) 16} Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?^{(B) 18} Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”^(C)

¹⁹ When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the Sabbath day.^{(D) 20} Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. ²¹ But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.^(E)

Penalty for Violating the Sabbath

³² When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.^{(A) 33} Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation. ³⁴ They put him in custody because it was not clear what should be done to him.^{(B) 35} Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him outside the camp.”^{(C) 36} The whole congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁹ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a Sabbath.^{(A) 10} So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”^{(B) 11} But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”

¹⁶ Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them,^(A)

²³ So be careful, lest you forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you and make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.^(A)

¹⁵ “Since you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, watch yourselves closely,

⁹ “But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children^(A)—

¹⁵ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and through it many become defiled.^{(A) 16} See to it that no one becomes an immoral and godless person, as Esau was, who sold his birthright for a single meal.^(B)

Warning to Pay Attention

2 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For if the message declared through angels proved valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty,^{(A) 3} how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was confirmed for us by those who heard him,^(B)