Bible Strands
Exodus 12:16
On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God instructs Israel through Moses, defining the operational limits for the Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately after mandating the removal of leaven.
The words — מִקְרָא־קֹדֶשׁ (mikra-qodesh) renders literally as a "convocation of holiness," marking the first and seventh days as fixed gatherings.
The thread — The prohibition on labor for these convocation days appears in Leviticus 23:7, Numbers 28:18, and parallels the rest command in Exodus 16:23.
Why it lands — The text commands total work cessation on the designated days while explicitly permitting only meal preparation, requiring precise compliance with ritual boundaries.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 23:7 On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work.
- Numbers 28:18 On the first day there is to be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.
- Exodus 16:23 He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”
- Numbers 28:25 On the seventh day you shall hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.
- Exodus 16:5 Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
- Exodus 16:29 Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.”
- Exodus 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.
- Exodus 35:2 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death.
- Leviticus 23:2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
- Leviticus 23:21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live for the generations to come.