Jeremiah 17:21
Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
Thus saith the Lord to the people of Judah and Jerusalem to take heed to themselves in vigilant self-watchfulness. The charge forbids bearing any burden on the Sabbath day and bringing it in by the gates of Jerusalem. It likewise forbids carrying loads out from houses and doing any common or ordinary work for livelihood or worldly profit, requiring the day to be kept holy as commanded to earlier generations.
The warning was given because Israel had lost sight of the true object and sacred purpose of the Sabbath and had grown careless and unmindful in its observance. They were treading winepresses, bringing in sheaves, loading asses and animals with wine, grapes, figs and every kind of load and bringing them into Jerusalem, and selling food on the Sabbath. These practices violated the day's sacred purpose and brought God's displeasure. Increased work of priests with sacrificial offerings on the Sabbath does not break this command, while ordinary labor does.
The continued existence of Jerusalem as God's chosen city was made conditional on obedience including this Sabbath keeping. Had the nation preserved its allegiance to Heaven, the city would have stood forever. Disobedience to this warning brings the threatened judgment on Jerusalem, realized in calamity, persecution and bondage.