Jeremiah 17:20

20 Tell the kings and all the people of Judah and everyone who lives in Jerusalem and enters these gates, to listen to what I say.

Jeremiah 17:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 17:20

And say unto them, hear ye the word of the Lord
Concerning the sanctification of the sabbath; for this was not of human, but of divine institution:

ye kings of Judah;
which must be understood either, as Kimchi thinks, of the then present king and his sons, so called because they would reign after him; for, there was but one king at a time; and who, perhaps, at this time, was Josiah: or else the king and his nobles, the princes of the land, are meant:

and all Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by
these gates;
the people in the several parts of the land of Judea, that came to Jerusalem either for trade and merchandise, or for worship, and all that dwelt in the metropolis; for the business the prophet had to charge them with concerned them all.

Jeremiah 17:20 In-Context

18 Bring disgrace on those who persecute me, but spare me, Lord. Fill them with terror, but do not terrify me. Bring disaster on them and break them to pieces.
19 The Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, go and announce my message at the People's Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city; then go to all the other gates of Jerusalem.
20 Tell the kings and all the people of Judah and everyone who lives in Jerusalem and enters these gates, to listen to what I say.
21 Tell them that if they love their lives, they must not carry any load on the Sabbath; they must not carry anything in through the gates of Jerusalem
22 or carry anything out of their houses on the Sabbath. They must not work on the Sabbath; they must observe it as a sacred day, as I commanded their ancestors.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.