'Return' in the Bible

Then the king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son,

But Micaiah said, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he said, “Listen, all you people!”

I am about to put a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”

It was reported to David about his men, so he sent messengers to meet them, since the men were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back; then return.”

If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,because they have sinned against You,and they return to You and praise Your name,and they pray and plead for mercybefore You in this temple,

and when they return to You with their whole mind and heartin the land of their captivity where they were taken captive,and when they pray in the direction of their landthat You gave their ancestors,and the city You have chosen,and toward the temple I have built for Your name,

Rehoboam replied, “Return to me in three days.” So the people left.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

‘This is what the Lord says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers. Each of you must return home, for this incident has come from Me.’”So they listened to what the Lord said and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

So Micaiah said:I saw all Israel scattered on the hillslike sheep without a shepherd.And the Lord said,“They have no master;let each return home in peace.”

Then the king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son,

But Micaiah said, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he said, “Listen, all you people!”

Listen to me and return the captives you took from your brothers, for the Lord’s burning anger is on you.”

So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped from the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

for when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For Yahweh your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

and who has shown favor to me before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by Yahweh my God, and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.

But if you return to Me and carefully observe My commands, even though your exiles were banished to the ends of the earth, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have My name dwell.”

The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.

Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return on their own heads and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.

Return their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses to them immediately, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and olive oil that you have been assessing them.”

They responded: “We will return these things and require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”So I summoned the priests and made everyone take an oath to do this.

They refused to listenand did not remember Your wondersYou performed among them.They became stiff-necked and appointed a leaderto return to their slavery in Egypt.But You are a forgiving God,gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and rich in faithful love,and You did not abandon them.

so I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house.

She would go in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the supervision of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She never went to the king again, unless he desired her and summoned her by name.

But when the matter was brought before the king, he commanded by letter that the evil plan Haman had devised against the Jews return on his own head and that he should be hanged with his sons on the gallows.

He will never return to his house;his hometown will no longer remember him.

Please remember that You formed me like clay.Will You now return me to dust?

before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,never to return.

He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness;he is destined for the sword.

For only a few years will passbefore I go the way of no return. >

He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.

If you return to the Almighty, you will be renewed.If you banish injustice from your tent

then his flesh will be healthier than in his youth,and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor.

every living thing would perish togetherand mankind would return to the dust.

Their offspring are healthy and grow up in the open field.They leave and do not return.

The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations that forget God.

Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways,and sinners will return to You.

They return at evening, snarling like dogsand prowling around the city.

And they return at evening, snarling like dogsand prowling around the city.

He remembered that they were only flesh,a wind that passes and does not return.

Return, God of Hosts.Look down from heaven and see;take care of this vine,

Return to us, God of our salvation,and abandon Your displeasure with us.

You return mankind to the dust,saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”

When You hide Your face,they are terrified;when You take away their breath,they die and return to the dust.

In return for my love they accuse me,but I continue to pray.

Return to your rest, my soul,for the Lord has been good to you.

None return who go to her;none reach the paths of life.

All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

before the sun and the light are darkened,and the moon and the stars,and the clouds return after the rain;

The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,to the Mighty God.

Israel, even if your people were as numerousas the sand of the sea,only a remnant of them will return.Destruction has been decreed;justice overflows.

who turned the world into a wilderness,who destroyed its citiesand would not release the prisoners to return home?”

The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing. Then they will return to the Lord and He will hear their prayers and heal them.

Return to the One the Israelites have greatly rebelled against.

and the redeemed of the Lord will returnand come to Zion with singing,crowned with unending joy.Joy and gladness will overtake them,and sorrow and sighing will flee.

I am about to put a spirit in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”

I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on Ahaz’s stairway go back by 10 steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back the 10 steps it had descended.

I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,and your sins like a mist.Return to Me,for I have redeemed you.

And the redeemed of the Lord will returnand come to Zion with singing,crowned with unending joy.Joy and gladness will overtake them,and sorrow and sighing will flee.

Let the wicked one abandon his wayand the sinful one his thoughts;let him return to the Lord,so He may have compassion on him,and to our God, for He will freely forgive.

For just as rain and snow fall from heavenand do not return therewithout saturating the earthand making it germinate and sprout,and providing seed to sowand food to eat,

so My word that comes from My mouthwill not return to Me empty,but it will accomplish what I pleaseand will prosper in what I send it to do.”

Why, Yahweh, do You make us stray from Your ways?You harden our hearts so we do not fear You.Return, because of Your servants,the tribes of Your heritage.

I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

“Return, you faithless children”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

Return, you faithless children.I will heal your unfaithfulness.“Here we are, coming to You,for You are the Lord our God.

If you return, Israel—this is the Lord’s declaration—you will return to Me,if you remove your detestable idolsfrom My presenceand do not waver,

Lord, don’t Your eyes look for faithfulness?You have struck them, but they felt no pain.You finished them off,but they refused to accept discipline.They made their faces harder than rock,and they refused to return.

“But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first. See what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel.

“You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says:Do people fall and not get up again?If they turn away, do they not return?

Why have these people turned away?Why is Jerusalem always turning away?They take hold of deceit;they refuse to return.

After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

Their nobles send their servants for water.They go to the cisterns;they find no water;their containers return empty.They are ashamed and humiliated;they cover their heads.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:If you return, I will restore you;you will stand in My presence.And if you speak noble words,rather than worthless ones,you will be My spokesman.It is they who must return to you;you must not return to them.

but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the other lands where He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.

Do not weep for the dead;do not mourn for him.Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away,for he will never return againand see his native land.

For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place—he will never return here again,

They will never return to the land they long to return to.”

“I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.

I will keep My eyes on them for their good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them.

I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am Yahweh. They will be My people, and I will be their God because they will return to Me with all their heart.

Perhaps they will listen and return—each from his evil way of life—so that I might relent concerning the disaster that I plan to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.

As for you, My servant Jacob,do not be afraid—this is the Lord’s declaration—and do not be dismayed, Israel,for without fail I will save you from far away,your descendants, from the land of their captivity!Jacob will return and have calm and quietwith no one to frighten him.

Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land.I will gather them from remote regions of the earth—the blind and the lame will be with them,along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth.They will return here as a great assembly!

This is what the Lord says:Keep your voice from weepingand your eyes from tears,for the reward for your work will come—this is the Lord’s declaration—and your children will return from the enemy’s land.

There is hope for your future—this is the Lord’s declaration—and your children will return to their own territory.

I have heard Ephraim moaning,“You disciplined me, and I have been disciplinedlike an untrained calf.Restore me, and I will return,for you, Lord, are my God.

Set up road markers for yourself;establish signposts!Keep the highway in mind,the way you have traveled.Return, Virgin Israel!Return to these cities of yours.

I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My anger, rage and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety.

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah’s king, who is sending you to inquire of Me: Watch: Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt.

The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.

then you will tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

When Jeremiah had not yet turned to go, Nebuzaradan said to him: “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people or go wherever you want to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift and released him.

I will grant you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil.

Then the remnant of Judah—those going to live for a while there in the land of Egypt—will have no fugitive or survivor to return to the land of Judah where they are longing to return to live, for they will not return except for a few fugitives.”

Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah only few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah, the ones going to the land of Egypt to live there for a while, will know whose word stands, Mine or theirs!

He continues to stumble.Indeed, each falls over the other.They say, “Get up! Let’s return to our peopleand to the land of our birth,away from the sword that oppresses.”

But you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid,and do not be discouraged, Israel,for without fail I will save you from far awayand your descendants, from the land of their captivity!Jacob will return and have calm and quietwith no one to frighten him.

For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylonan assembly of great nations from the north country.They will line up in battle formation against her;from there she will be captured.Their arrows will be like those of a skilled warriorwho does not return empty-handed.

I will return Israel to his grazing land,and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan;he will be satisfiedin the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead.