New International Version
Zechariah 1:3
3Therefore 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.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- 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 of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo: 2“The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 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. 4Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5Where are your ancestors now? 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 distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.
- Deuteronomy 30:2and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,
- 1 Kings 8:47and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;
- 2 Chronicles 15:4But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.
- 2 Chronicles 30:6At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: “People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
- Nehemiah 9:28“But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
- Isaiah 31:6Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
- Jeremiah 3:12Go, proclaim this message toward the north: “ ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry forever.
- Jeremiah 4:1“If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,” declares the Lord. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray,
- Jeremiah 25:5They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever.
- Jeremiah 35:15Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention or listened to me.
- Lamentations 3:39Why should the living complain when punished for their sins?
- Ezekiel 33:11Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
- Hosea 6:1“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.
- Hosea 14:1Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!
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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