Nehemiah 8:9-10

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ¹  Ezra the priestly scribe, ²  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ³  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law. 8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. ⁴  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 10:31

10:31 We will not buy ⁵  on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and we will cancel every loan. ⁶ 

Nehemiah 10:33

10:33 for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God.

Nehemiah 13:22

13:22 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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¹ tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.

² tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

³ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

⁵ tn Heb “take.”

⁶ tn Heb “debt of every hand,” an idiom referring to the hand that holds legally binding contractual agreements.