Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. | Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. |
Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! | Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. |
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For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. | For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you. |
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. | I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free. |
Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. | O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. |
Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.” | Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises.” |
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” | That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” |
So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. | It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. |
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. | Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. |
And rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. | “Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. |
Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. | Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. |
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” | Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” |
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? | And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? |
Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. | Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’ |
Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.” | But Jesus told them, “I will be with you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me.” |
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? | Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. |
As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. | We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. |
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. | Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. |
Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. | Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! |
I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father. | Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father. |
Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. | Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord.’ |
Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. | Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. |
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. | But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. |
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. | Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. |
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. | Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. |