New King James Version
Malachi 3:7
7Yet 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?’
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 Living Translation (NLT)Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’
Context of Malachi 3:7
5And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts. 6“For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 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?’ 8“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
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! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 31:20When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.
- Nehemiah 9:16“But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your commandments.
- Psalms 78:8And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- Ezekiel 20:8But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, ‘I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’
- Luke 11:48In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.
- Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
- Leviticus 26:40‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me,
- Deuteronomy 4:29But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Deuteronomy 30:1“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you,
- 1 Kings 8:47yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’;
- Nehemiah 1:8Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;
- Isaiah 55:6Seek 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, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not remain angry forever.
- Ezekiel 18:30“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
- Hosea 14:1O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries