Christian Standard Bible
Malachi 3:7
7“Since the days of your ancestors, you have turned from my statutes; you have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Armies. Yet you ask, “How can we return?”
Malachi 3:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
- New International Version (NIV)Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
- English Standard Version (ESV)From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?'
- New King James Version (NKJV)Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’
Context of Malachi 3:7
5“I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, and the fatherless; and against those who deny justice to the resident alien. They do not fear me,” says the Lord of Armies. 6“Because I, the Lord, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. “Since the days of your ancestors, you have turned from my statutes; you have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Armies. Yet you ask, “How can we return?” 8“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!” “How do we rob you?” you ask. “By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. 9You are suffering under a curse, yet you — the whole nation — are still robbing me.
Read all of Malachi 3Malachi 3:7 word by word
לְמִימֵ֨י אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֜ם סַרְתֶּ֤ם מֵֽחֻקַּי֙ וְלֹ֣א שְׁמַרְתֶּ֔ם שׁ֤וּבוּ אֵלַי֙ וְאָשׁ֣וּבָה אֲלֵיכֶ֔ם אָמַ֖ר יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֑וֹת וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם בַּמֶּ֥ה נָשֽׁוּב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Even from the daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- of your fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
- ye are gone awayסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: turn asideH5493
- from mine ordinancesחֹקchôq · statute: decreeH2706
- and have not keptשָׁמַרshâmar · to keep: obeyH8104
- Returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- unto you, saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- of hostsצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · HostsH6635
Cross-references for Malachi 3:7
- Deuteronomy 9:7“Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness. You have been rebelling against the Lord from the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place.
- Deuteronomy 31:20When I bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising me and breaking my covenant.
- Nehemiah 9:16But our ancestors acted arrogantly; they became stiff-necked and did not listen to your commands.
- Psalms 78:8Then they would not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not loyal and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- Ezekiel 20:8“‘But they rebelled against me and were unwilling to listen to me. None of them threw away the abhorrent things that they prized, and they did not abandon the idols of Egypt. So I considered pouring out my wrath on them, exhausting my anger against them within the land of Egypt.
- Luke 11:48Therefore, you are witnesses that you approve the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments.
- Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also.
- Leviticus 26:40“But when they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their ancestors — their unfaithfulness that they practiced against me, and how they acted with hostility toward me,
- Deuteronomy 4:29But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.
- Deuteronomy 30:1“When all these things happen to you — the blessings and curses I have set before you — and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you,
- 1 Kings 8:47and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition you in their captors’ land: “We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,”
- Nehemiah 1:8Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples.
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near.
- Jeremiah 3:12Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say, ‘Return, unfaithful Israel. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will not look on you with anger, for I am unfailing in my love. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will not be angry forever.
- Ezekiel 18:30“Therefore, house of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to his ways.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “Repent and turn from all your rebellious acts, so they will not become a sinful stumbling block to you.
- Hosea 14:1Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.
Commentaries on Malachi 3:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Gone away from mine ordinances - Never acting according to their spirit and design. Return unto me - There is still space to repent. Wherein shall we return? - Their consciences were seared, and they knew not that they were sinners.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Even from the days of your fathers - Back to those days and from them ye are gone away from My ordinances. “I am not changed from good; ye are not changed from evil. I am unchangeable in holiness; ye are unchangeable in perversity.” Return unto Me - The beginning of our return is from the preventing grace of God. Jeremiah 31:18; Lamentations 5:21, “turn Thou me, and I shall be turned, for Thou art the Lord my God,” is the voice of the soul to God…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 The men of that generation turned away from God, they had not kept his ordinances. God gives them a gracious call. But they said, Wherein shall we return? God notices what returns our hearts make to the calls of his word. It shows great perverseness in sin, when men make afflictions excuses for sin, which are sent to part between them and their sins. Here is an earnest exhortation to reform. God must be served in the first place; and the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7turn away: In a covenant relationship, this phrase expresses a change in loyalty by Israel or God. It usually means repentance, a complete turn back to God or a full shift toward the Lord. The command is urgent and requires an immediate response. The accusation of fake worship builds on similar charges in the second argument (see Malachi 1:6–14). God's promise to open the windows of heaven (Malachi 3:10) shows his power as a great King (see 1:14).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 7-127-12. Reproof for the non-payment of tithes and offerings, which is the cause of their national calamities, and promise of prosperity on their paying them. from ... days of your fathers--Ye live as your fathers did when they brought on themselves the Babylonian captivity, and ye wish to follow in their steps. This shows that nothing but God's unchanging long-suffering had prevented their being long ago "consumed" (Mal 3:6). Return unto me--in penitence. I…Read the comment
Topics related to Malachi 3:7
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Malachi 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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