MAL 3:7 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Ever since the time when your ancestors were alive, you all have ignored my commands and refused to obey them. Now return to me—if you all do so, I’ll return to you. That’s what I, army-commander Yahweh, say. But you all ask, ‘How can we return to you?’

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX καὶ ὑμεῖς οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰακὼβ οὐκ ἀπέχεσθε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδικιῶν τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν, ἐξεκλίνατε νόμιμά μου, καὶ οὐκ ἐφυλάξασθε.
¶ Ἐπιστρέψατε πρὸς μὲ, καὶ ἐπιστραφήσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ· καὶ εἴπατε, ἐν τίνι ἐπιστρέψομεν;
(kai humeis hoi huioi Yakōb ouk apeⱪesthe apo tōn adikiōn tōn paterōn humōn, exeklinate nomima mou, kai ouk efulaxasthe.
¶ Epistrepsate pros me, kai epistrafaʸsomai pros humas, legei Kurios pantokratōr; kai eipate, en tini epistrepsomen; )

BrTr 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?

ULT 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 Armies. “But you say, ‘In what shall we return?’

UST Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have disobeyed my laws. You have completely ignored them. Now come back to me, and I will come back to you,” says Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies. “You may wonder what I mean and ask, ‘How can we come back to you?’

OEB ‘From the days of your ancestors, you have turned aside from my statutes, and you have not kept them. Turn to me and I will turn to you,’ says the Lord. ‘You say, “How should we turn?”

WEBBE 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 the LORD of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

WMBB 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 the LORD of Hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

MSG ^(6-7)“I am God—yes, I Am. I haven’t changed. And because I haven’t changed, you, the descendants of Jacob, haven’t been destroyed. You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven’t done a thing I’ve told you. Return to me so I can return to you,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“You ask, ‘But how do we return?’

NET 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?’

LSV 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?

FBV From the time of your forefathers onward, you have turned away from my laws and not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty.
¶ But you ask, “How should we return?”[fn]

3:7 The sense seems to be that the people do not see any necessity to return, not recognizing they have done anything wrong.

T4T You and your ancestors have ignored my commands and you have not obeyed them. Now return to me; and when that happens, I will ◄return/do good► to you. That is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say.”
¶ But you ask, “We have never gone away from you, so how can we return to you?”

LEB From the days of your ancestors[fn] you have turned aside from my rules, and have not kept[fn] them! Return to me and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of hosts, “but you say, ‘How shall we return?’

3:7 Or “fathers”

3:7 Or “observed”

BBE 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?

Moff ever since the days of your fathers, you have swerved from my laws and failed to keep them. Come back to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will come back to you. ‘How do we need to come back?’ you ask.

JPS 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?'

ASV 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?

DRA 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?

YLT 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?'

Drby Since the days of your fathers have ye departed from my statutes, 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?

RV 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?
(From the days of your fathers ye/you_all have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies. But ye/you_all say, Wherein shall we return? )

SLT For from the days of your fathers ye departed from my laws, and ye watched not. Turn back to me and I will turn back to you, said Jehovah of armies. And ye said, In what shall we turn back?

Wbstr 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?

KJB-1769 ¶ 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?
(¶ Even from the days of your fathers ye/you_all are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies. But ye/you_all said, Wherein shall we return? )

KJB-1611 ¶ Euen from the dayes of your fathers yee are gone away from mine ordinances, and haue not kept them: returne vnto me, and I will returne vnto you, saith the LORD of hosts: But ye said, Wherein shall we returne?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps 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?
(From the days of your fathers ye/you_all are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them: turn you to me, and I will turn to you, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies. And ye/you_all said, Wherein shall we return?)

Gnva 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?
(From the days of your fathers, ye/you_all are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them: return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies: but ye/you_all said, Wherein shall we return? )

Cvdl 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?
(ye/you_all are gone away from mine ordinauces, and sens ye/you_all time of your(pl) forefathers have ye/you_all not kept them. Turn you now unto me, and I will turn me unto you, saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies. Ye/You_all say: Wherin shall we turne?)

Wycl Forsothe fro daies of youre fadris ye wenten awei fro my lawful thingis, and kepten not; turne ye ayen to me, and Y schal ayen turne to you, seith the Lord of oostis. And ye seiden, In what thing schulen we turne ayen?
(For_certain/Truly from days of your(pl) fathers ye/you_all went away from my lawful things, and kept not; turn ye/you_all again to me, and I shall again turn to you, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies. And ye/you_all said, In what thing should we turn again?)

Luth Ihr seid von eurer Väter Zeit an immerdar abgewichen von meinen Geboten und habt sie nicht gehalten: So bekehret euch nun zu mir, so will ich mich zu euch auch kehren, spricht der HErr Zebaoth. So sprechet ihr: Worin sollen wir uns bekehren?
(You(pl) are from yours(pl) fathers time/period at/to forever abgewichen from my commandments/commands and have they/she/them not held: So converted you now to/for to_me, so will I me to/for you also sweep/bother, speaks/says the/of_the LORD Tsevaot_(of_armies). So speaker you(pl)/their/her: Worin should we/us us/to_us/ourselves convert?)

ClVg A diebus enim patrum vestrorum recessistis a legitimis meis, et non custodistis: revertimini ad me, et revertar ad vos, dicit Dominus exercituum. Et dixistis: In quo revertemur?
(From days because of_the_fathers of_yours you_lefts from legitimis mine, and not/no you_keeptis: return to me, and revertar to you(pl), he_says Master hosts/soldiers. And you_said: In where revertemur? )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:6–18: If the people again start to give the LORD what they owe him, he will again bless them

Notice that this section also starts with the “Statement, Question, Response” pattern. However this time the sequence is expanded. The “Statement-Question” part occurs twice before a longer “Response” is given. (Another difference is that the second statement begins with a short question.) The “Statement-Question-Response” pattern marks the beginning of a new section.

3:6 is a transitional verse, as 2:17 was. Again, it is recommended that you take it as the first verse of this new section.

3:7a

Yet from the days of your fathers,

From long ago at the time of your^(plur) ancestors until now,

Yet from the days of your fathers: The Hebrew expression which the BSB translates as from the days of your fathers means “ever since the time of your ancestors and continuing to the present time.” It indicates here that their ancestors also in each generation had been disobeying the LORD’s commands.

your fathers: That is, “your ancestors.”

3:7b

you have turned away from My statutes

in each generation you^(plur) have rejected my commandments/laws

you have turned away from My statutes: The Hebrew verb which the BSB translates as turned away is the same one which was used in 2:8a. It is used as an idiom here. It means “to reject” the statutes of the LORD.

you: In this context, the LORD referred to the people of Israel in each generation who did not obey him. In some languages it may not be natural to address past generations in the same group with the living. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to use a comparison to express the idea. For example:

You, like your ancestors before you, have turned away from my laws. (GNT)

statutes: Hebrew has a number of different words which are used to refer to laws and commandments. Sometimes it is important to distinguish between them, but in this verse, the LORD referred to all the laws which he gave to Moses. You can use your usual term for “law” or “commandments.”

3:7c

and have not kept them.

and have not obeyed them.

and have not kept them: The Hebrew verb which the BSB translates as have not kept indicates that they did not obey those laws.

3:7d

Return to Me, and I will return to you,”

Turn back^(plur) and commit yourselves^(plur) to obey me again, and I will also turn back to bless you^(plur) again.”
Repent^(plur) and be faithful to me again, and then I also will be faithful to bless you^(plur) again.”

Return to Me, and I will return to you: The same Hebrew verb which the BSB translates as Return is used in both parts of 3:7d. Like the verb in 3:7b, it is used as an idiom. It implies that the relationship between the people and the LORD has been damaged and needs to be repaired. To Return would mean they must do what was necessary to again have a loving relationship with the LORD (that is, to be reconciled).

For the people and the LORD to be reconciled, the word Return has a slightly different meaning in the two contexts. Firstly, the people must repent of their sins and once more obey the LORD’s law. Then the LORD would forgive them and again bless them.

In some languages it may not be possible to use the same verb for the actions of both the people and the LORD. If that is true in your language, you should use the appropriate specific verbs. For example:

Repent and be faithful to me again, and I will be faithful also to bless you.

3:7e

says the LORD of Hosts.

These are the words of Yahweh Sabaot.
Yahweh Sabaot has spoken.
This is what Yahweh Sabaot says to you^(plur).

says the LORD of Hosts: See the note on 3:1f. See also note 1 in “Literary structure and recurring features in Malachi” section of the Introduction.

Notice that in the BSB this clause occurs after the speech. This is good English style. You should place it wherever is natural in your language.

the LORD of Hosts: See the note on 3:1f. See also the discussion of this term in the Key biblical terms in the book of Malachi section of the Introduction.

3:7f

“But you ask,

“But you^(plur) ask,

3:7g

‘How can we return?’

‘In what way/ways should we^(excl) turn back to you^(sing)?’
‘What should we^(excl) repent of and stop doing?’

How can we return?: This question probably implies that the people did not recognize the ways in which they had stopped obeying the LORD. They were asking him in what way they should return to him; in other words, what things they should repent of and stop doing. For example:

But you ask, “What must we do to turn back to you?” (GNT)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אֲבֹתֵי⁠כֶ֜ם

your(pl)_ancestors_of,of

Yahweh is speaking of the ancestors of the Israelites as if they were the literal fathers of the current generation. Alternate translation: [forefathers]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

סַרְתֶּ֤ם מֵֽ⁠חֻקַּ⁠י֙ וְ⁠לֹ֣א שְׁמַרְתֶּ֔ם

turned_aside from,my_of,statutes and=not kept

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. Yahweh uses them together to emphasize how the people have disobeyed him. If it would be clearer in your language, you could combine these phrases. Alternate translation: [you have completely disobeyed my statutes]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

סַרְתֶּ֤ם מֵֽ⁠חֻקַּ⁠י֙

turned_aside from,my_of,statutes

Yahweh is speaking of disobeying his statutes as if that were turning aside from a path on which one needed to walk. Alternate translation: [you have disobeyed my statutes]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes

וַ⁠אֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם בַּ⁠מֶּ֥ה נָשֽׁוּב

and,you(pl)_say ,how? return

If it would be clearer in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [But you ask how you should return]

Parallel MAL 3:7