Malachi 3:7

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?’

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Zech 1:3 : 3 Therefore say to the people: The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says,“Turn to me,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,“and I will turn to you,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
  • Deut 31:20 : 20 For after I have brought them to the land I promised to their ancestors– one flowing with milk and honey– and they eat their fill and become fat, then they will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant.
  • Neh 9:28-30 : 28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again. 29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances– those by which an individual, if he obeys them, will live. They boldly turned from you; they rebelled and did not obey. 30 You prolonged your kindness with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
  • Mal 1:6 : 6 The Sacrilege of Priestly Service“A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The LORD of Heaven’s Armies asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply,‘How have we made light of your name?’
  • Luke 15:16 : 16 He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
  • Ezek 20:21 : 21 “‘But the children rebelled against me, did not follow my statutes, did not observe my regulations by carrying them out(the one who obeys them will live by them), and desecrated my Sabbaths. I decided to pour out my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the wilderness.
  • Rom 10:21 : 21 But about Israel he says,“All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!”
  • Deut 4:29-31 : 29 But if you seek the LORD your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. 30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, if you return to the LORD your God and obey him 31 (for he is a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.
  • Deut 30:1-4 : 1 The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation“When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses I have set before you, you will reflect upon them in all the nations where the LORD your God has banished you. 2 Then if you and your descendants turn to the LORD your God and obey him with your whole mind and being just as I am commanding you today, 3 the LORD your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he has scattered you. 4 Even if your exiles are in the most distant land, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.
  • 1 Kgs 8:47-49 : 47 When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting,‘We have sinned and gone astray; we have done evil.’ 48 When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, 49 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help and vindicate them.
  • Neh 1:8-9 : 8 Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses:‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you repent and obey my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’
  • Isa 55:6-7 : 6 Seek the LORD while he makes himself available; call to him while he is nearby! 7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They should return to the LORD, and he will show mercy to them, and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.
  • Isa 65:2 : 2 I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable, and who did what they desired.
  • Jer 3:12-14 : 12 The Lord Calls on Israel and Judah to Repent“Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north. Tell them,‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the LORD.‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. For I am merciful,’ says the LORD.‘I will not be angry with you forever. 13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong, and that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You must confess that you have given yourself to foreign gods under every green tree, and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the LORD. 14 “Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the LORD,“for I am your true master. If you do, I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.
  • Hos 14:1 : 1 Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sin has been your downfall!
  • Jer 3:22 : 22 Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. Say,‘Here we are. We come to you because you are the LORD our God.
  • Jer 7:26 : 26 But your ancestors did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”
  • Ezek 18:30-32 : 30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. 31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
  • Ezek 20:8 : 8 But they rebelled against me, and refused to listen to me; no one got rid of their detestable idols, nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out my rage on them and fully vent 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 follow my statutes and they rejected my regulations(the one who obeys them will live by them), and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I decided to pour out my rage on them in the wilderness and destroy them.
  • Neh 9:16-17 : 16 “But they– our ancestors– behaved presumptuously; they rebelled and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. You did not abandon them,
  • Neh 9:26 : 26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.
  • Lev 26:40-42 : 40 However, when they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, by which they also walked in hostility against me 41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for their iniquity, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
  • Deut 9:7-9 : 7 The History of Israel’s Stubbornness Remember– don’t ever forget– how you provoked the LORD your God in the wilderness; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. 8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I remained there forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 10 The LORD gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger of God, and on them was everything he said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly. 11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the LORD presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 And he said to me,“Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image.” 13 Moreover, he said to me,“I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn lot! 14 Stand aside and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.” 15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16 When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; you had quickly turned aside from the way he had commanded you! 17 I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, and shattered them before your very eyes. 18 Then I again fell down before the LORD for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the LORD as to enrage him. 19 For I was terrified at the LORD’s intense anger that threatened to destroy you. But he listened to me this time as well. 20 The LORD was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him too. 21 As for your sinful thing that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain.
  • Jas 4:8 : 8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded.
  • Ezek 20:28 : 28 I brought them to the land which I swore to give them, but whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices there and presented the offerings that provoke me to anger. They offered their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings.
  • Acts 7:51-52 : 51 “You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did! 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become!
  • Rom 7:9 : 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive
  • Rom 10:3 : 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
  • Mal 3:13 : 13 Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency“You have criticized me sharply,” says the LORD,“but you ask,‘How have we criticized you?’
  • Matt 23:27 : 27 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean.
  • Luke 11:48-51 : 48 So you testify that you approve of the deeds of your ancestors, because they killed the prophets and you build their tombs! 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said,‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that this generation may be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.
  • Ps 78:8-9 : 8 Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God. 9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they retreated in the day of battle. 10 They did not keep their covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law.
  • Deut 31:27-29 : 27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the LORD; you will be even more rebellious after my death! 28 Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after I die you will totally corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly before the LORD, inciting him to anger because of your actions.”

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Zech 1:3-4
    2 verses
    85%

    3Therefore say to the people: The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says,“Turn to me,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,“and I will turn to you,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

    4“Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying,‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has said,“Turn now from your evil wickedness,”’ but they would by no means obey me,” says the LORD.

  • Mal 3:8-9
    2 verses
    83%

    8Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say,‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions!

    9You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me– this whole nation is guilty.

  • Jer 4:1
    77%

    1“If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the LORD,“if you want to come back to me, you must get those disgusting idols out of my sight and must no longer go astray.

  • Jer 3:20-22
    3 verses
    77%

    20But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,” says the LORD.

    21“A noise is heard on the hilltops. It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods. Indeed they have followed sinful ways; they have forgotten to be true to the LORD their God.

    22Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. Say,‘Here we are. We come to you because you are the LORD our God.

  • Hag 1:7
    76%

    7The Instruction of the People“Moreover, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has said:‘Pay close attention to these things also.

  • Isa 31:6
    76%

    6You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled!

  • Mal 3:6
    76%

    6Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness“Since, I, the LORD, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.

  • Mal 1:6-7
    2 verses
    75%

    6The Sacrilege of Priestly Service“A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The LORD of Heaven’s Armies asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply,‘How have we made light of your name?’

    7You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask,‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table of the LORD as if it is of no importance!

  • Mal 2:8-9
    2 verses
    75%

    8You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

    9“Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your instruction.”

  • Jer 25:5
    75%

    5He said through them,‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession.

  • Mal 1:13
    74%

    13You also say,‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,“and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?” asks the LORD.

  • Jer 7:3
    74%

    3The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.

  • Jer 3:12-14
    3 verses
    74%

    12The Lord Calls on Israel and Judah to Repent“Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north. Tell them,‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the LORD.‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. For I am merciful,’ says the LORD.‘I will not be angry with you forever.

    13However, you must confess that you have done wrong, and that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You must confess that you have given yourself to foreign gods under every green tree, and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the LORD.

    14“Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the LORD,“for I am your true master. If you do, I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

  • Hag 1:5
    74%

    5Here then, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has said:‘Think carefully about what you are doing.

  • Lam 5:21
    74%

    21Bring us back to yourself, O LORD, so that we may return to you; renew our life as in days before,

  • Hag 2:17
    74%

    17I struck all the products of your labor with blight, disease, and hail, and yet you brought nothing to me,’ says the LORD.

  • Mal 3:13-14
    2 verses
    74%

    13Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency“You have criticized me sharply,” says the LORD,“but you ask,‘How have we criticized you?’

    14You have said,‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD of Heaven’s Armies?

  • Mal 2:1-2
    2 verses
    74%

    1The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message“Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.

    2If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,“I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses– indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

  • Jer 2:5
    74%

    5This is what the Lord says:“What fault could your ancestors have possibly found in me that they strayed so far from me? They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.

  • Jer 15:19
    74%

    19Because of this, the LORD said,“You must repent of such words and thoughts! If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me. If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless, I will again allow you to be my spokesman. They must become as you have been. You must not become like them.

  • Mal 1:9-10
    2 verses
    73%

    9But now plead for God’s favor that he might be gracious to us.“With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

    10“I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,“and I will no longer accept an offering from you.

  • Zeph 1:6
    73%

    6and those who turn their backs on the LORD and do not want the LORD’s help or guidance.”

  • Hos 14:1
    73%

    1Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sin has been your downfall!

  • Zech 1:6
    73%

    6But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? Then they paid attention and confessed,‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

  • Joel 2:12
    73%

    12An Appeal for Repentance“Yet even now,” the LORD says,“return to me with all your heart– with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

  • Jer 3:1
    73%

    1“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife, he may not take her back again. Doing that would utterly defile the land. But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. So what makes you think you can return to me?” says the LORD.

  • Jer 8:4-5
    2 verses
    73%

    4Willful Disregard of God Will Lead to Destruction The LORD said to me,“Tell them,‘The LORD says, Do people not get back up when they fall down? Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way?

    5Why, then, do these people of Jerusalem continually turn away from me in apostasy? They hold fast to their deception. They refuse to turn back to me.

  • 2 Chr 29:6
    73%

    6For our fathers were unfaithful; they did what is evil in the sight of the LORD our God and abandoned him! They turned away from the LORD’s dwelling place and rejected him.

  • Jer 35:15
    73%

    15I sent all my servants the prophets to warn you over and over again. They said,“Every one of you, stop doing the evil things you have been doing and do what is right. Do not pay allegiance to other gods and worship them. Then you can continue to live in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay any attention or listen to me.

  • Jer 11:10
    73%

    10They have gone back to the evil ways of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

  • Isa 63:17
    72%

    17Why, LORD, do you make us stray from your ways, and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance!

  • Jer 15:6
    72%

    6I, the LORD, say:‘You people have deserted me! You keep turning your back on me.’ So I have unleashed my power against you and have begun to destroy you. I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!”

  • Jer 16:11
    72%

    11Then tell them that the LORD says,‘It is because your ancestors rejected me and paid allegiance to other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law.

  • Jer 2:31
    72%

    31You people of this generation, listen to the LORD’s message.“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel? Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? Why then do you say,‘We are free to wander. We will not come to you any more?’

  • 2 Chr 30:7-8
    2 verses
    72%

    7Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the LORD God of their ancestors, provoking him to destroy them, as you can see.

    8Now, don’t be stubborn like your fathers! Submit to the LORD and come to his sanctuary which he has permanently consecrated. Serve the LORD your God so that he might relent from his raging anger.

  • Mal 2:17
    72%

    17Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say,“How have we wearied him?” Because you say,“Everyone who does evil is good in the LORD’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or“Where is the God of justice?”

  • Neh 1:9
    72%

    9But if you repent and obey my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’