^35:1Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.¹^35:2In six days² work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day³ for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord.⁴ Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. ^35:3You must not kindle a fire⁵ in any of your homes⁶ on the Sabbath day.”⁷

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Footnotes

1 Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
2 This is an adverbial accusative of time.
3 The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, ). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”
4 See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41–43, 99–101, 153–55, 204–6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” 92 (1980): 32–43.
5 Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. The Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” 28 (1978): 301–17.
6 Heb “dwelling places”; , “habitations.”
7 The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1–11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12–18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1–3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4–36:7).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Moses assembled the entire Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do: For six days work is to be done, but on the seventh day you are to have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. Anyone who does work on it must be executed. Do not light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath day.”

NLTNew Living Translation

Then Moses called together the whole community of Israel and told them, “These are the instructions the Lord has commanded you to follow. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on that day must be put to death. You must not even light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Moses assembled all the community of the Israelites, and he said to them, “These are the words that Yahweh has commanded for us to do them. On six days work can be done, and on the seventh there will be for you a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest, for Yahweh; anyone doing work on it will be put to death. You will not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the day of the Sabbath.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

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