EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Exodus 23:12
12Do your work for six days each week, but do not work on the seventh day. Then your oxen and your donkeys will have time to rest. Any slave who was born in your home and any foreigner who works for you may also have time to rest. That will help them to be strong.
Exodus 23:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
- New International Version (NIV)“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
Context of Exodus 23:12
10You must plant seed in your fields for six years. Then you can bring your crops home at harvest time. 11But in the seventh year, you must let your fields lie empty. Do not dig them and do not plant anything in them. Then poor people among you can eat the food that they find in your fields. After that, the wild animals can eat any food that still remains. Do the same thing with your vineyards and your fields of olive trees. Do your work for six days each week, but do not work on the seventh day. Then your oxen and your donkeys will have time to rest. Any slave who was born in your home and any foreigner who works for you may also have time to rest. That will help them to be strong. 13Be careful to obey everything that I have told you. Do not pray to other gods for help. Do not even speak about them. 14Three times each year, you must eat a feast to give me honour.
Read all of Exodus 23Exodus 23:12 word by word
שֵׁ֤שֶׁת יָמִים֙ תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה מַעֲשֶׂ֔יךָ וּבַיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י תִּשְׁבֹּ֑ת לְמַ֣עַן יָנ֗וּחַ שֽׁוֹרְךָ֙ וַחֲמֹרֶ֔ךָ וְיִנָּפֵ֥שׁ בֶּן־אֲמָתְךָ֖ וְהַגֵּֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Sixשֵׁשׁshêsh shishshâh · sixH8337
- daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- thou shalt doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- thy workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
- and on the seventhשְׁבִיעִיshebîy‛îy shebi‛îy · seventhH7637
- thou shalt restשָׁבַתshâbath · to ceaseH7673
- that thine oxשׁוֹרshôr · cattleH7794
- and thine assחֲמוֹרchămôr chămôr · donkeyH2543
- may restנוּחַnûach · to restH5117
- and the sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- of thy handmaidאָמָה'âmâh · maidservantH519
- and the strangerגֵּרgêr gêyr · sojournerH1616
- may be refreshedנָפַשׁnâphash · be refreshedH5314
Cross-references for Exodus 23:12
- Exodus 20:8Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it as a special day for me.
- Exodus 31:15You may work for six days each week, but the seventh day is a day of rest. It is a holy day that is special to me, the Lord. If anyone does any work on a Sabbath day, you must punish him with death.
- Luke 13:14But the leader of the meeting place was angry because Jesus had made a sick person well on their day of rest. He said to the people there, ‘There are six days each week when we should work. Come on any of those days and get well. But you should not come on our day of rest to get well.’
- Deuteronomy 5:13You have six days every week to do all your work.
- Isaiah 58:3They say to me, “We have fasted to please you, but you do not see it. We make ourselves humble and you do not even look.” Listen to me! Yes you fast, but you do it to please yourselves. At the same time as you are fasting, you are being cruel to the people who work for you.
Commentaries on Exodus 23:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Six days thou shalt do thy work - Though they were thus bound to keep the sabbatical year, yet they must not neglect the seventh day's rest or weekly Sabbath; for that was of perpetual obligation, and was paramount to all others. That the sanctification of the Sabbath was of great consequence in the sight of God, we may learn from the various repetitions of this law; and we may observe that it has still for its object, not only the benefit of the soul…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10-12Verses 10-12 This is the first mention of the Sabbatical year; the law for it is given at length in Leviticus 25:2. Both the Sabbatical year and the weekly Sabbath are here spoken of exclusively in their relation to the poor, as bearing testimony to the equality of the people in their covenant with Yahweh. In the first of these institutions, the proprietor of the soil gave up his rights for the year to the whole community of living creatures, not…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-19Verses 10-19 Every seventh year the land was to rest. They must not plough or sow it; what the earth produced of itself, should be eaten, and not laid up. This law seems to have been intended to teach dependence on Providence, and God's faithfulness in sending the larger increase while they kept his appointments. It was also typical of the heavenly rest, when all earthly labours, cares, and interests shall cease for ever. All respect to the gods of the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10-12Renewal, rest, and refreshment are important (23:12). Just as humans and animals are to enjoy these in the weekly Sabbath, so the land is to be given rest every seven years (23:10–11; see study note on 20:8–11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest--This law is repeated [Ex 20:9] lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the sabbatical year.Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 23:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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