Moses told them, “This is what the Lord said would happen. It happened because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the Lord. You can cook all the food you need to cook for today, but save the rest of this food for tomorrow morning.”

On Saturday, Moses told the people, “Today is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the Lord. So none of you should be out in the fields. Eat the food you gathered yesterday.

Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for you. So on Friday he will give you enough food for two days. Then, on the Sabbath, each of you should sit down and relax. Stay where you are.”

So the people rested on the Sabbath.

“You must remember to keep the Sabbath a special day.

That is because the Lord worked six days and made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. And on the seventh day, he rested. In this way the Lord blessed the Sabbath—the day of rest. He made that a very special day.

The Sabbath

Then the Lord said to Moses,

“‘Make the Sabbath a special day. If someone treats the Sabbath like any other day, that person must be killed. Whoever works on the Sabbath day must be separated from their people.

There are six other days in the week for working. But the seventh day is a very special day of rest. That is the special day to honor the Lord. Anyone who works during the Sabbath must be killed.

The Israelites must remember the Sabbath and make it a special day. They must continue to do this forever. It is an agreement between them and me that will continue forever.

The Sabbath will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever.’” (The Lord worked six days and made the sky and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and relaxed.)

Rules About the Sabbath

Moses gathered all the Israelites together and said to them, “I will tell you what the Lord has commanded you to do:

On the Sabbath you should not even light a fire in any of the places where you live.”

Sabbath

“Work for six days, but the seventh day, the Sabbath, will be a special day of rest, a holy meeting. You must not do any work. It is a day of rest to honor the Lord in all your homes.

You will celebrate these festivals in addition to remembering the Lord’s Sabbath days. You will offer these gifts in addition to your other gifts and any offerings you give as payment for your special promises. They will be in addition to any special offerings you want to give to the Lord.

Every Sabbath day Aaron will put the bread in order before the Lord. This must be done forever. This agreement with the Israelites will continue forever.

A Man Works on the Day of Rest

While the Israelites were in the desert, some of them saw a man gathering firewood on the Sabbath day.

Sabbath Offerings

“On the Sabbath you must give 2 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. You must also give a grain offering of 16 cups of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and a drink offering.

‘You must keep the Sabbath a special day like the Lord your God commanded.

Don’t forget that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. The Lord your God brought you out of Egypt with his great power and made you free. That is why the Lord your God commands you to always make the Sabbath a special day.

The woman’s husband said, “Why would you want to go to the man of God today? It isn’t the New Moon or Sabbath day.” She said, “Goodbye!”

Then Jehoiada gave them a command. He said, “This is what you must do. One-third of you, from those who go on duty on the Sabbath day, must stand guard at the royal palace.

Your two divisions who go off duty on the Sabbath day will stand guard at the Lord’s Temple and protect King Joash.

The captains obeyed everything that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each captain took his men, both those who were going on duty on the Sabbath day and those who were going off duty. All these men went to Jehoiada the priest,

Workers had built a covered place inside the Temple area for the Sabbath meetings. But Ahaz removed the covered place and the outside entrance for the king. He removed all these from the Lord’s Temple. Ahaz did this because of the king of Assyria.