New Living Translation
Zechariah 1:3
3Therefore, 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.’
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.
- 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.
Context of Zechariah 1:3
1In November of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave this message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo: 2“I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors. 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.’ 4Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’ 5“Where are your ancestors now? They and the prophets are long dead.
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 4:30“In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you.
- Deuteronomy 30:2If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today,
- 1 Kings 8:47But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’
- 2 Chronicles 15:4But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him out, they found him.
- 2 Chronicles 30:6At the king’s command, runners were sent throughout Israel and Judah. They carried letters that said: “O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he will return to the few of us who have survived the conquest of the Assyrian kings.
- Nehemiah 9:28“But as soon as they were at peace, your people again committed evil in your sight, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people turned and cried to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times!
- Isaiah 31:6Though you are such wicked rebels, my people, come and return to the Lord.
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
- Jeremiah 3:12Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the Lord says: “O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever.
- Jeremiah 4:1“O Israel,” says the Lord, “if you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more.
- Jeremiah 25:5Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever.
- Jeremiah 35:15Time after time I sent you prophets, who told you, “Turn from your wicked ways, and start doing things right. Stop worshiping other gods so that you might live in peace here in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you would not listen to me or obey me.
- Lamentations 3:39Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?
- Ezekiel 33:11As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?
- Hosea 6:1“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds.
- Hosea 14:1Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.
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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