English Standard Version
Zechariah 1:3
3Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 1:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.
- New International Version (NIV)Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Therefore, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’
Context of Zechariah 1:3
1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2"The Lord was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.' But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
Read all of Zechariah 1Zechariah 1:3 word by word
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֗ם כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֔וֹת שׁ֣וּבוּ אֵלַ֔י נְאֻ֖ם יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֑וֹת וְאָשׁ֣וּב אֲלֵיכֶ֔ם אָמַ֖ר יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Zechariah 1:3
- Deuteronomy 4:30When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.
- Deuteronomy 30:2and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul,
- 1 Kings 8:47yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, 'We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,'
- 2 Chronicles 15:4but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
- 2 Chronicles 30:6So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, "O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
- Nehemiah 9:28But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies.
- Isaiah 31:6Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted, O children of Israel.
- Isaiah 55:6"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
- Jeremiah 3:12Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, "'Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever.
- Jeremiah 4:1"If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver,
- Jeremiah 25:5saying, 'Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever.
- Jeremiah 35:15I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, 'Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.' But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.
- Lamentations 3:39Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?
- Ezekiel 33:11Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
- Hosea 6:1"Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
- Hosea 14:1Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Commentaries on Zechariah 1:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Turn ye unto me - This shows that they had power to return, if they would but use it. And I will turn unto you - I will show you mercy and grant you salvation, if you will use the grace I have already given you. Men are lost, because they turn not unto God; but no man is lost because he had not power to return. God gives this, and he will require it.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Therefore say thou - Literally, “And thou sayest,” that is, this having been so, it follows that thou sayest or must say, “Turn ye unto Me.” In some degree they had turned to God, for whose sake they had returned to their land; and again when, after some negligence Haggai 1:2-11, they renewed the building of the temple, and God had said, “I am with you” Haggai 1:13. But there needed yet a more inward, more complete turning, whereon God promises a yet…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3the LORD of Hosts: God has an infinite number of angelic troops ready to do his will (see 2 Kings 6:17; Matthew 26:53). The phrase was probably meant to be an encouragement to the Judeans. Return to me: Repentance means a complete change. It is a move away from sin and self towards loyalty to God and his covenant (see Isaiah 44:22; Malachi 3:7; see also Psalms 80:3–14; 85:4–8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. saith the Lord of hosts--a phrase frequent in Haggai and Zechariah, implying God's boundless resources and universal power, so as to inspire the Jews with confidence to work. Turn ye unto me ... and I will turn--that is, and then, as the sure consequence, "I will turn unto you" (Mal 3:7; Jas 4:8; compare also Jr 3:12; Eze 18:30; Mi 7:19). Though God hath brought you back from captivity, yet this state will not last long unless ye are really converted…Read the comment
Topics related to Zechariah 1:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Zechariah 1
- 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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