Malachi 3:7

KJV1611 – Modern English

Even 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?'.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לְמִימֵ֨י אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֜ם סַרְתֶּ֤ם מֵֽחֻקַּי֙ וְלֹ֣א שְׁמַרְתֶּ֔ם שׁ֤וּבוּ אֵלַי֙ וְאָשׁ֣וּבָה אֲלֵיכֶ֔ם אָמַ֖ר יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֑וֹת וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם בַּמֶּ֥ה נָשֽׁוּב׃

Transliteration

Le-mime ʾavotekhem sartem me-ḥuqqay we-loʾ shemartem shuvu ʾelay we-ʾashuvah ʾalekhem ʾamar YHWH tsevaʾot wa-ʾamartem bammeh nashuv.

Grammar Details

• *Le-mime*: preposition + noun, masculine plural construct - from/since the days of
• *ʾavotekhem*: noun, masculine plural with 2nd masculine plural suffix - your fathers
• *sartem*: Qal perfect, 2nd masculine plural - you have turned aside
• *me-ḥuqqay*: preposition + noun, masculine plural construct with 1st person singular suffix - from my statutes
• *we-loʾ*: waw conjunction + negative particle - and not
• *shemartem*: Qal perfect, 2nd masculine plural - you have kept
• *shuvu*: Qal imperative, masculine plural - return
• *ʾelay*: preposition with 1st person singular suffix - to me
• *we-ʾashuvah*: waw consecutive + Qal imperfect, 1st person singular - and I will return
• *ʾalekhem*: preposition with 2nd masculine plural suffix - to you
• *ʾamar*: Qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - says/said
• *YHWH*: divine name - Yahweh/LORD
• *tsevaʾot*: noun, feminine plural - hosts/armies
• *wa-ʾamartem*: waw consecutive + Qal perfect, 2nd masculine plural - and you say
• *bammeh*: preposition + interrogative pronoun - in what/how
• *nashuv*: Qal imperfect, 1st common plural - shall we return

Word Meanings

• *mime*: days/time
• *ʾavotekhem*: your fathers/your ancestors/your forefathers
• *sartem*: turned aside/departed/deviated
• *ḥuqqay*: my statutes/my decrees/my ordinances
• *shemartem*: kept/observed/guarded
• *shuvu*: return/turn back/repent
• *ʾashuvah*: I will return/I will turn back/I will restore
• *bammeh*: in what way/how/by what means
• *nashuv*: shall we return/should we turn back/how can we repent

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  From the days of your ancestors, 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 shall we return?'

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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?

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  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?

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  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?

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  ye are gone awaye fro myne ordinauces, & sens ye tyme of youre forefathers haue ye not kepte them. Turne you now vnto me, and I wil turne me vnto you, sayeth the LORDE of hoostes. Ye saye: Wherin shal we turne?

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  From the dayes of your fathers, ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and haue not kept them: returne vnto me, and I will returne vnto you, saith the Lord of hostes: but ye saide, Wherein shall we returne?

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  From the dayes of your fathers ye are gone away from myne ordinaunces, and haue not kept them: turne you to me, and I wyll turne to you, saith the Lorde of hoastes. And ye saide, Wherein shall we returne?

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  ¶ 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?

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  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 Yahweh of Hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  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?'

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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?

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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?

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  From the days of your fathers you have been turned away from my rules and have not kept them. Come back to me, and I will come back to you, says the Lord of armies. But you say, How are we to come back?

• World English Bible (2000)

  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 Yahweh of Armies. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  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 of Heaven’s Armies.“But you say,‘How should we return?’

Referenced Verses

• Zech 1:3 : 3 Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD of hosts: Turn to Me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the LORD of hosts.
• Deut 31:20 : 20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, that flows with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
• Neh 9:28-30 : 28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before You; therefore You abandoned them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven, and many times delivered them according to Your mercies. 29 You testified against them, that You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted proudly and did not heed Your commandments but sinned against Your judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them. And they shrugged their shoulders, stiffened their necks, and would not hear. 30 Yet for many years You had patience with them and testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not give ear; therefore, You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
• Mal 1:6 : 6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is my honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, that despise my name. And you say, How have we despised your name?
• Luke 15:16 : 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs ate: and no one gave him anything.
• Ezek 20:21 : 21 Nevertheless the children rebelled against me: they did not walk in my statutes, nor kept my judgments to do them, which if a man does, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
• Rom 10:21 : 21 But to Israel he says: "All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people."
• Deut 4:29-31 : 29 But if from there you shall seek the LORD your God, you shall find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you, even in the latter days, if you turn to the LORD your God, and be obedient to his voice; 31 (For the LORD your God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.
• Deut 30:1-4 : 1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where the LORD your God has driven you, 2 And shall return to the LORD your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul; 3 Then the LORD your God will end your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If any of yours are driven out to the farthest parts of heaven, from there will the LORD your God gather you, and from there will he bring you:
• 1 Kgs 8:47-49 : 47 Yet if they shall come to themselves in the land where they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48 And so return to you with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name: 49 Then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven your dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
• Neh 1:8-9 : 8 Remember, I beg You, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, If you transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 But if you turn to Me, and keep My commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out to the farthest part of the heaven, yet I will gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen to set My name there.
• Isa 55:6-7 : 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
• Isa 65:2 : 2 I have stretched out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own thoughts;
• Jer 3:12-14 : 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, backsliding Israel, says the LORD; and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, says the LORD, and I will not keep anger forever. 13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, says the LORD. 14 Turn, O backsliding children, says the LORD; for I am married to you: and I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
• Hos 14:1 : 1 O Israel, return to the LORD your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity.
• Jer 3:22 : 22 Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come to you; for you are the LORD our God.
• Jer 7:26 : 26 Yet they did not listen to me, nor incline their ear, but stiffened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
• Ezek 18:30-32 : 30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord GOD: therefore turn yourselves, and live.
• Ezek 20:8 : 8 But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me: they did not cast away every man the abominations of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
• Ezek 20:13 : 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they did not walk in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man does, he shall even live in them; and they greatly polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
• Neh 9:16-17 : 16 But they and our forefathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments. 17 They refused to obey, and were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.
• Neh 9:26 : 26 Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against You, cast Your law behind their backs, and killed Your prophets who testified against them, to turn them back to You, and they performed great provocations.
• Lev 26:40-42 : 40 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 to me; 41 And that I also have walked contrary to them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity: 42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
• Deut 9:7-9 : 7 Remember, and do not forget, how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that you departed out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. 8 Also in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to destroy you. 9 When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, I neither ate bread nor drank water: 10 And the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God; and on them were written according to all the words, which the LORD spoke with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant. 12 And the LORD said to me, Arise, go down quickly from here; for your people which you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten image. 13 Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, I have seen this people, and, look, it is a stiff-necked people: 14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they. 15 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire: and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and, behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made for yourselves a molten calf: you had quickly turned aside out of the way which the LORD had commanded you. 17 And I took the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. 18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread nor drink water, because of all your sins which you sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, with which the LORD was angry against you to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also. 20 And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at that time. 21 And I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I threw the dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
• Jas 4:8 : 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
• Ezek 20:28 : 28 For when I had brought them into the land, for which I lifted up my hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provoking of their offering: there also they made their sweet savor, and poured out there their drink offerings.
• Acts 7:51-52 : 51 You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? And they have killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers,
• Rom 7:9 : 9 For I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
• Rom 10:3 : 3 For being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
• Mal 3:13 : 13 Your words have been harsh against me, says the LORD. Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against you?'.
• Matt 23:27 : 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
• Luke 11:48-51 : 48 Truly you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore the wisdom of God also said, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall kill and persecute: 50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51 From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple: truly I say to you, It shall be required of this generation.
• Ps 78:8-9 : 8 And might not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that did not set their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. 9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. 10 They did not keep the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
• Deut 31:27-29 : 27 For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death? 28 Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.