Maleakhi 1:13-14

1:13 You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?” ¹  asks the Lord. 1:14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” ²  says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Maleakhi 2:2

2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously ³  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment ⁴  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

Maleakhi 3:7

3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored ⁵  my commandments ⁶  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?’

Maleakhi 3:17

3:17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property. ⁷  I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

Maleakhi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ⁸  “For indeed the day ⁹  is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It ¹⁰  will not leave even a root or branch.

[1:13]  ¹ tn Heb “from your hand,” a metonymy of part (the hand) for whole (the person).

[1:14]  ² sn The epithet great king was used to describe the Hittite rulers on their covenant documents and so, in the covenant ideology of Malachi, is an apt description of the Lord.

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “turned aside from.”

[3:7]  ⁶ tn Or “statutes” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “decrees”; NLT “laws.”

[3:17]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew word סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah, “special property”) is a technical term referring to all the recipients of God’s redemptive grace, especially Israel (Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18). The Lord says here that he will not forget even one individual in the day of judgment and reward.

[4:1]  ⁸ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:6 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:19 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:20 HT, etc., through 4:6 ET = 3:24 HT. Thus the book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible has only three chapters, with 24 verses in ch. 3.

[4:1]  ⁹ sn This day is the well-known “day of the Lord” so pervasive in OT eschatological texts (see Joel 2:30-31; Amos 5:18; Obad 15). For the believer it is a day of grace and salvation; for the sinner, a day of judgment and destruction.

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.