Exodus 20:10
“but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;”
What does Exodus 20:10 mean?
God set apart one day each week for rest, and this command extended to everyone in the household, from family members to servants to animals. It's a radical idea for its time: even those with no power or status got a day of stopping, reflecting God's own rest after creation. The point wasn't just about ceasing work, but about honoring that stopping itself as holy and restorative. For many of us today, whether we observe a Sabbath or not, this reminds us that rest isn't laziness or weakness, it's something God values enough to command it.