Malachi 3:7
New International Version
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?’

New Living Translation
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?’

English Standard Version
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?’

Berean Standard Bible
Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But you ask, ‘How can we return?’

King James Bible
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 King James Version
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?’

New American Standard Bible
“From the days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

NASB 1995
“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?’

NASB 1977
“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?’

Legacy Standard Bible
“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 Yahweh of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

Amplified Bible
“Yet from the days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and ordinances 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?’

Christian Standard Bible
“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? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from My statutes; you have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. But you ask: “How can we return?"”

American Standard Version
From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
From the days of your fathers you have turned from my commandments and you have not listened to them; return to me and I shall return to you, says LORD JEHOVAH of Hosts, and if you say: ”To what shall we return?”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
but ye, the sons of Jacob, have not refrained from the iniquities of your fathers: ye have perverted my statutes, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord Almighty. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Contemporary English Version
even though you have ignored and disobeyed my laws ever since the time of your ancestors. But if you return to me, I will return to you. And yet you ask, "How can we return?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
For from the days of your fathers you have departed from my ordinances, and have not kept them: Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord of hosts. And you have said: Wherein shall we return?

English Revised Version
From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my laws and have not followed them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of Armies. "But you ask, 'How can we return?'

Good News Translation
You, like your ancestors before you, have turned away from my laws and have not kept them. Turn back to me, and I will turn to you. But you ask, 'What must we do to turn back to you?'

International Standard Version
"Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away from my decrees and haven't kept them. Return to me and I'll return to you," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "But you ask, 'How will we return?'

JPS Tanakh 1917
From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside From Mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, Saith the LORD of hosts. But ye say: 'Wherein shall we return?'

Literal Standard Version
Even from the days of your fathers You have turned aside from My statutes, | And you have not taken heed. Return to Me, and I return to you,” said YHWH of Hosts. “And you have said, | In what do we turn back?

Majority Standard Bible
Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But you ask, ‘How can we return?’

New American Bible
Since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, that I may return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, “Why should we return?”

NET Bible
From the days of your ancestors you have ignored my commandments and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD who rules over all. "But you say, 'How should we return?'

New Revised Standard Version
Ever since the days of your ancestors 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 Heart English Bible
From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, 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?'

Webster's Bible Translation
Even from the days of your fathers ye have gone away from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, In what shall we return?

World English Bible
From the days of your fathers you have turned away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

Young's Literal Translation
Even from the days of your fathers Ye have turned aside from My statutes, And ye have not taken heed. Turn back unto Me, and I turn back to you, Said Jehovah of Hosts. And ye have said, 'In what do we turn back?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Robbing God
6“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. 7Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But you ask, ‘How can we return?’ 8Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.…

Cross References
James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Jeremiah 7:25
From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.

Jeremiah 7:26
Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.

Jeremiah 16:11
Then you are to answer them: 'It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.

Jeremiah 16:12
And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.

Zechariah 1:3
So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: 'Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.'


Treasury of Scripture

Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, said the LORD of hosts. But you said, Wherein shall we return?

from the.

Deuteronomy 9:7-21
Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD…

Deuteronomy 31:20,27-29
For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant…

Nehemiah 9:16,17,26,28-30
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, …

Return unto me.

Leviticus 26:40-42
If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; …

Deuteronomy 4:29-31
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul…

Deuteronomy 30:1-4
And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, …

Wherein.

Malachi 3:13
Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

Malachi 1:6
A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

Isaiah 65:2
I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;

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Almighty Armies Decrees Departed Fathers Forefathers Hosts How Kept Ordinances Rules Statutes Time Turned Wherein
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Almighty Armies Decrees Departed Fathers Forefathers Hosts How Kept Ordinances Rules Statutes Time Turned Wherein
Malachi 3
1. Of the messenger, majesty, and grace of Christ.
7. Of the rebellion,
8. sacrilege,
13. and infidelity of the people.
16. The promise of blessing to those who fear God.














(7) Even from . . . fathers.--Throughout the whole course of their history they had been a people (Exodus 32:9, &c.); and now, when exhorted to repent, they ask in feigned innocence:--

Wherein shall we return? . . . Return unto me . . . unto you.--Comp. Zechariah 1:3.

Verses 7-12. § 2. God indeed is faithful to his promises, but the people's own conduct has occasioned the withholding of favours: they have been shamefully negligent in the matter of tithes and offerings; let them amend their practice, and they shall be blessed. Verse 7. - Ye are gone away (have turned aside) from mine ordinances. Disobedience was no new offence; they had always from early days been persistent in wickedness; and if the performance of God's sure promise was delayed, this was because they had not fulfilled the conditions on which rested its accomplishment. Return: unto me, and I will return unto you (Zechariah 1:3, where see note). Man must cooperate with God's preventing grace, and then God gives him further grace unto repentance and amendment. Here, if the people followed the preaching of the prophets and obeyed the promptings of the Holy Spirit, God promises to bless and save them. Wherein shall we return? Here is the Pharisaical spirit, as in Malachi 1:6, etc. They do not acknowledge their offence; they consider that they are righteous and need no repentance.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Yet from the days
לְמִימֵ֨י (lə·mî·mê)
Preposition-l, Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3117: A day

of your fathers,
אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֜ם (’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 1: Father

you have turned away
סַרְתֶּ֤ם (sar·tem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5493: To turn aside

from My statutes
מֵֽחֻקַּי֙ (mê·ḥuq·qay)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 2706: Something prescribed or owed, a statute

and have not
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

kept them.
שְׁמַרְתֶּ֔ם (šə·mar·tem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

Return
שׁ֤וּבוּ (šū·ḇū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to Me,
אֵלַי֙ (’ê·lay)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

and I will return
וְאָשׁ֣וּבָה (wə·’ā·šū·ḇāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to you,”
אֲלֵיכֶ֔ם (’ă·lê·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

says
אָמַ֖ר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

the LORD
יְהוָ֣ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

of Hosts.
צְבָא֑וֹת (ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ)
Noun - common plural
Strong's 6635: A mass of persons, reg, organized for, war, a campaign

But you ask,
וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם (wa·’ă·mar·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“How
בַּמֶּ֥ה (bam·meh)
Preposition-b | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

can we return?”
נָשֽׁוּב׃ (nā·šūḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again


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OT Prophets: Malachi 3:7 From the days of your fathers you (Malachi Mal Ml)
Malachi 3:6
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