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.’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD of Hosts speaks through a prophet to the returned exiles, immediately following a declaration of divine anger toward their ancestors. The words — שׁוּבוּ (Shu.vu) = return, paired with אֵלַי ('e.La/i) = to me, forms the core imperative of the message. The thread — This reciprocal call appears in Jeremiah 3:22, Malachi 3:7, and Joel 2:12, where God repeatedly commands a turning back to Himself. Why it lands — It requires a concrete decision to realign with God's authority, promising that divine attention follows human obedience.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ve./'a.mar.Taand/ you will say אֲלֵהֶ֗ם'a.le./Hemto/ them כֹּ֤הkohthus אָמַר֙'a.Marhe says יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahweh צְבָא֔וֹתtze.va.'otof hosts שׁ֣וּבוּShu.vureturn אֵלַ֔י'e.La/ito/ me נְאֻ֖םne.'Um[the] utterance of יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahweh צְבָא֑וֹתtze.va.'otof hosts וְאָשׁ֣וּבve./'a.Shuvso/ I may return אֲלֵיכֶ֔ם'a.lei./Khemto/ you אָמַ֖ר'a.Marhe says יְהוָ֥הYah.wehYahweh צְבָאֽוֹת׃tze.va.'otof hosts

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 3:22 “Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.
Malachi 3:7 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?’
Joel 2:12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
Deuteronomy 30:2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today,
Jeremiah 4:1 “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,
Isaiah 31:6 Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel.
Jeremiah 12:15 But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
Hosea 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
Luke 15:18 I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
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.