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Exodus 23:10-11
“ For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce.But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.
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Leviticus 23:3
“‘ Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the LORD in all the places where you live.
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Nehemiah 13:15-22
In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them on the day that they sold these provisions.The people from Tyre who lived there were bringing fish and all kinds of merchandise and were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah– and in Jerusalem, of all places!So I registered a complaint with the nobles of Judah, saying to them,“ What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?Isn’t this the way your ancestors acted, causing our God to bring on them and on this city all this misfortune? And now you are causing even more wrath on Israel, profaning the Sabbath like this!”When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.The traders and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice.But I warned them and said,“ Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!” From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath.Then I directed the Levites to purify themselves and come and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. For this please remember me, O my God, and have pity on me in keeping with your great love.
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Exodus 20:10
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.
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Isaiah 58:6
No, this is the kind of fast I want. I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke.
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Nehemiah 5:1-13
Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.There were those who said,“ With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain grain in order to eat and stay alive.”There were others who said,“ We are putting up our fields, our vineyards, and our houses as collateral in order to obtain grain during the famine.”Then there were those who said,“ We have borrowed money to pay our taxes to the king on our fields and our vineyards.And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, and our children are just like their children, still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.”I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints.I considered these things carefully and then registered a complaint with the wealthy and the officials. I said to them,“ Each one of you is seizing the collateral from your own countrymen!” Because of them I called for a great public assembly.I said to them,“ To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.Then I said,“ The thing that you are doing is wrong! Should you not conduct yourselves in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?Even I and my relatives and my associates are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral!This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest that you are exacting from them on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil.”They replied,“ We will return these things, and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials swear to do what had been promised.I also shook out my garment, and I said,“ In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out this matter. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!” All the assembly replied,“ So be it!” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did as they had promised.
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2 Chronicles 36 21
This took place to fulfill the LORD’s message delivered through Jeremiah. The land experienced its sabbatical years; it remained desolate for seventy years, as prophesied.
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Leviticus 25:1-7
The LORD spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai:“ Speak to the Israelites and tell them,‘ When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the produce,but in the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath of complete rest– a Sabbath to the LORD. You must not sow your field or prune your vineyard.You must not gather in the aftergrowth of your harvest and you must not pick the grapes of your unpruned vines; the land must have a year of complete rest.You may have the Sabbath produce of the land to eat– you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you,your cattle, and the wild animals that are in your land– all its produce will be for you to eat.
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James 2:13
For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.
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Matthew 18:27-35
The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt.After he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. So he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying,‘ Pay back what you owe me!’Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him,‘ Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt.When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place.Then his lord called the first slave and said to him,‘ Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me!Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed.So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.”
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Leviticus 16:29
“ This is to be a perpetual statute for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work of any kind, both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides in your midst,
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Deuteronomy 15:7-9
If a fellow Israelite from one of your villages in the land that the LORD your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive to his impoverished condition.Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend him whatever he needs.Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite and you do not lend him anything; he will cry out to the LORD against you and you will be regarded as having sinned.
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Deuteronomy 15:1-3
At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts.This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, for it is to be recognized as“ the LORD’s cancellation of debts.”You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite owes you, you must remit.
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Matthew 6:12
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
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Leviticus 23:35-36
On the first day is a holy assembly; you must do no regular work.For seven days you must present a gift to the LORD. On the eighth day there is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must present a gift to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly day; you must not do any regular work.
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Exodus 12:16
On the first day there will be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind on them, only what every person will eat– that alone may be prepared for you.
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Leviticus 23:21
“‘ On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you. You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations.
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Jeremiah 17:21-22
The LORD says,‘ Be very careful if you value your lives! Do not carry any loads in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.Do not carry any loads out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day. But observe the Sabbath day as a day set apart to the LORD, as I commanded your ancestors.
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Colossians 2:16
Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days–
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Deuteronomy 5:12-14
Be careful to observe the Sabbath day just as the LORD your God has commanded you.You are to work and do all your tasks in six days,but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the foreigner who lives with you, so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest.
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Isaiah 58:13-14
You must observe the Sabbath rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. You must look forward to the Sabbath and treat the LORD’s holy day with respect. You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities, and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals.Then you will find joy in your relationship to the LORD, and I will give you great prosperity, and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.” Know for certain that the LORD has spoken.