Jeremiah 17:21

21 This is what the LORD says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 17:21 in Other Translations

KJV
21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
ESV
21 Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.
NLT
21 This is what the LORD says: Listen to my warning! Stop carrying on your trade at Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day.
MSG
21 "'This is God's Message. Be careful, if you care about your lives, not to desecrate the Sabbath by turning it into just another workday, lugging stuff here and there.
CSB
21 This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

Jeremiah 17:21 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 17:21

Thus saith the Lord, take heed to yourselves
That ye sin not against the Lord, by breaking the sabbath, and so bring wrath and ruin upon yourselves: or "to your souls" F1; to the inward frame of them, that they be in disposition for the work of that day; and that they be wholly engaged therein, even all the powers and faculties of them; and that they be not taken up in thoughts and cares about other things: and bear no burden on the sabbath day;
as no worldly thoughts and cares should, cumber the mind, and lie heavy thereon, to the interruption of spiritual exercises of religion; so neither should any weight or burden be borne by the body, or carried from place to place; as not by themselves, so neither by their servants, nor by their cattle, nor in carts and wagons, nor by any instrument whatever; in short, all servile work was forbidden: nor bring [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem;
to be unloaded and sold there, as wine, grapes, figs, and fish, were, in the times of Nehemiah, ( Nehemiah 13:15 Nehemiah 13:16 Nehemiah 13:19 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Mkytwvpnb) "in animabus vestris", Calvin, Montanus, Schmidt.

Jeremiah 17:21 In-Context

19 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.
20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates.
21 This is what the LORD says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.
22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.
23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Numbers 15:32-36; S Deuteronomy 5:14; Nehemiah 13:15-21; John 5:10
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