Nehemiah 7:3
7:3 I
said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning,
until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them.
Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes.”
Exodus 31:14-17
31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it
must surely be put to death; indeed,
if anyone does
any
work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his
people.
31:15 Six days
work may be done,
but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest,
holy to the
Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.
31:16 The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
31:17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days
the
Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
Jeremiah 17:19-22
Observance of the Sabbath Day Is a Key to the Future
17:19 The Lord told me, “Go and stand in the People’s Gate through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem.
17:20 As you stand in those places announce, ‘Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the Lord says.
17:21 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.
17:22 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.