| Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. | ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. |
| Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts: he is the King of glory. Selah | Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory. |
|
| Restore us, O Lord of hosts; let your face shine upon us, and we will be saved. | Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. |
| All this knowledge comes from the Lord of hosts whose counsel is wonderful and whose wisdom is great. | All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent. |
| Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you as you claim he is. | Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. |
| This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel: Not by force, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. | This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. |
| They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession on the day when I act, and I will have compassion on them as a father has compassion on the son who serves him. | “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.” |
| Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the prophets of that time proclaimed. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Forsake your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they refused to listen or to pay attention to me, says the Lord. | Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. |
| Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render fair judgments, and show kindness and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor. Do not plot evil in your heart against one another. | This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ |
| Bring the tithes in full into the treasury so that there may be food in my house. Put me thus to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down blessings upon you without measure. | “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” |
| If you refuse to listen to me and do not sincerely resolve to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send a curse on you, and I will turn your blessings into a curse. Indeed, I have already done so because you have not heeded my warning. | “If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.” |
| These are the words of the Lord of hosts: Stand at the crossroads and look around; ask for the ancient paths. When you are shown where the good way lies, walk along it and your souls will find rest. However, they said, “We will not take it.” | This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” |
| For we are not struggling against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, the powers, and the cosmic rulers of this present darkness, and against the spirits of evil in the heavens. | For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. |
