Bible Strands
Exodus 20:9
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel at Sinai, defining the labor period immediately after commanding Sabbath remembrance. This verse establishes the six-day work window that precedes the holy rest.
The words — תַּעֲבֹד (ta.'a.Vod) translates to "you will labor" and מְלַאכְתְּךָ (me.lakh.te./Kha) means "your work," anchoring the command in personal, active toil.
The thread — The identical six-day labor structure appears in Exodus 23:12 and Exodus 34:21, while Luke 13:14 records a synagogue leader invoking this principle to restrict healing on the seventh day.
Why it lands — The text commands the reader to complete all necessary labor within six days, leaving the seventh exclusively for the Lord. It requires practical time allocation and strict adherence to a fixed work-rest boundary.
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
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Cross-references
- Luke 13:14 But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.”
- Exodus 23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.
- Exodus 34:21 Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
- Leviticus 23:3 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
- 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.