Maleakhi 3:18

3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between ¹  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

Maleakhi 3:5

3:5 “I ²  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ³  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ⁴  who refuse to help ⁵  the immigrant ⁶  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Maleakhi 2:12

2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community ⁷  of Jacob every last person who does this, ⁸  as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all!

Maleakhi 3:15

3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. ⁹  In fact, those who challenge ¹⁰  God escape!’”

Maleakhi 1:6

The Sacrilege of Priestly Service

1:6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects ¹¹  his master. If I am your ¹²  father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’

Maleakhi 2:17

Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit

2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, ¹³  and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Maleakhi 3:16

3:16 Then those who respected ¹⁴  the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. ¹⁵  A scroll ¹⁶  was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.

Maleakhi 2:8

2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; ¹⁷  you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” ¹⁸  says the Lord who rules over all.

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. ¹⁹  I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

Maleakhi 1:4

1:4 Edom ²⁰  says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all ²¹  responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as ²²  the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.

Maleakhi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ²³  “For indeed the day ²⁴  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 ²⁵  will not leave even a root or branch.

Maleakhi 1:10

1:10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, ²⁶  so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you.

Maleakhi 3:8

3:8 Can a person rob ²⁷  God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! ²⁸ 

Maleakhi 2:16

2:16 “I hate divorce,” ²⁹  says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” ³⁰  says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

Maleakhi 2:6-7

2:6 He taught what was true; ³¹  sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. 2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him ³²  because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all.

Maleakhi 2:9

2:9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your ³³  instruction.”

Maleakhi 4:3

4:3 You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Maleakhi 2:11

2:11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. ³⁴  For Judah has profaned ³⁵  the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! ³⁶ 

Maleakhi 3:3

3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering.

Maleakhi 2:10

The Rebellion of the People

2:10 Do we not all have one father? ³⁷  Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors?

Maleakhi 1:1

Introduction and God’s Election of Israel

1:1 What follows is divine revelation. ³⁸  The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: ³⁹ 

Maleakhi 1:9

1:9 But now plead for God’s favor ⁴⁰  that he might be gracious to us. ⁴¹  “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

Maleakhi 4:4

Restoration through the Lord

4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb ⁴²  I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. ⁴³ 

Maleakhi 1:14

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,” ⁴⁴  says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Maleakhi 3:14

3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ⁴⁵  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ⁴⁶ 

Maleakhi 1:12

1:12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings ⁴⁷  despicable.

Maleakhi 3:4

3:4 The offerings ⁴⁸  of Judah and Jerusalem ⁴⁹  will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past.

Maleakhi 2:15

2:15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. ⁵⁰  What did our ancestor ⁵¹  do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. ⁵² 

Maleakhi 1:7

1:7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table ⁵³  of the Lord as if it is of no importance!

Maleakhi 2:3

2:3 I am about to discipline your children ⁵⁴  and will spread offal ⁵⁵  on your faces, ⁵⁶  the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it.

[3:18]  ¹ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”

[3:5]  ² tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ³ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[2:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “tents,” used figuratively for the community here (cf. NCV, TEV); NLT “the nation of Israel.”

[2:12]  ⁸ tc Heb “every man who does this, him who is awake and him who answers.” For “answers” the LXX suggests an underlying Hebrew text of עָנָה (’anah, “to be humbled”), and then the whole phrase is modified slightly: “until he is humbled.” This requires also that the MT עֵר (’er, “awake”) be read as עֵד (’ed, “until”; here the LXX reads ἕως, Jews). The reading of the LXX is most likely an alteration to correct what is arguably a difficult text.

[2:12]  tn Heb “every man who does this, him who is awake and him who answers.” The idea seems to be a merism expressing totality, that is, everybody from the awakener to the awakened, thus “every last person who does this” (NLT similar); NIV “whoever he may be.”

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “built up” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “prosper”; NLT “get rich.”

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “test”; NRSV, CEV “put God to the test.”

[1:6]  ¹¹ tn The verb “respects” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. It is understood by ellipsis (see “honors” in the preceding line).

[1:6]  ¹² tn The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification (also a second time before “master” later in this verse).

[2:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[3:16]  ¹⁴ tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

[3:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

[3:16]  ¹⁶ sn The scroll mentioned here is a “memory book” (סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן, sefer zikkaron) in which the Lord keeps an ongoing record of the names of all the redeemed (see Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1; Rev 20:12-15).

[2:8]  ¹⁷ tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).

[2:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”

[3:17]  ¹⁹ 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.

[1:4]  ²⁰ sn Edom, a “brother” nation to Israel, became almost paradigmatic of hostility toward Israel and God (see Num 20:14-21; Deut 2:8; Jer 49:7-22; Ezek 25:12-14; Amos 1:11-12; Obad 10-12).

[1:4]  ²¹ sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Malachi (24 times total). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

[1:4]  ²² tn Heb “and they will call them.” The third person plural subject is indefinite; one could translate, “and people will call them.”

[4:1]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[1:10]  ²⁶ sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.

[3:8]  ²⁷ tc The LXX presupposes an underlying Hebrew text of עָקַב (’aqav, “deceive”), a metathesis of קָבַע (qava’, “rob”), in all four uses of the verb here (vv. 8-9). The intent probably is to soften the impact of “robbing” God, but the language of the passage is intentionally bold and there is no reason to go against the reading of the MT (which is followed here by most English versions).

[3:8]  ²⁸ sn The tithes and contributions mentioned here are probably those used to sustain the Levites (see Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).

[2:16]  ²⁹ tc The verb שָׂנֵא (sane’) appears to be a third person form, “he hates,” which makes little sense in the context, unless one emends the following word to a third person verb as well. Then one might translate, “he [who] hates [his wife] [and] divorces her…is guilty of violence.” A similar translation is advocated by M. A. Shields, “Syncretism and Divorce in Malachi 2,10-16,” ZAW 111 (1999): 81-85. However, it is possible that the first person pronoun אָנֹכִי (’anokhi, “I”) has accidentally dropped from the text after כִּי (ki). If one restores the pronoun, the form שָׂנֵא can be taken as a participle and the text translated, “for I hate” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[2:16]  sn Though the statement “I hate divorce” may (and should) be understood as a comprehensive biblical principle, the immediate context suggests that the divorce in view is that of one Jewish person by another in order to undertake subsequent marriages. The injunction here by no means contradicts Ezra’s commands to Jewish men to divorce their heathen wives (Ezra 9–10).

[2:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “him who covers his garment with violence” (similar ASV, NRSV). Here “garment” is a metaphor for appearance and “violence” a metonymy of effect for cause. God views divorce as an act of violence against the victim.

[2:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “True teaching was in his mouth”; cf. NASB, NRSV “True instruction (doctrine NAB) was in his mouth.”

[2:7]  ³² tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:9]  ³³ tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).

[2:11]  ³⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:11]  ³⁵ tn Or perhaps “secularized”; cf. NIV “desecrated”; TEV, NLT “defiled”; CEV “disgraced.”

[2:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “has married the daughter of a foreign god.” Marriage is used here as a metaphor to describe Judah’s idolatry, that is, her unfaithfulness to the Lord and “remarriage” to pagan gods. But spiritual intermarriage found expression in literal, physical marriage as well, as vv. 14-16 indicate.

[2:10]  ³⁷ sn The rhetorical question Do we not all have one father? by no means teaches the “universal fatherhood of God,” that is, that all people equally are children of God. The reference to the covenant in v. 10 as well as to Israel and Judah (v. 11) makes it clear that the referent of “we” is God’s elect people.

[1:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “The burden.” The Hebrew term III מַשָּׂא (massa’), usually translated “oracle” or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא), is a technical term in prophetic literature introducing a message from the Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content. The grammatical structure here suggests that the term stands alone (so NAB, NRSV) and is not to be joined with what follows, “the burden [or “revelation”] of” (so KJV, NASB, ESV).

[1:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi.” There is some question as to whether מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi) should be understood as a personal name (so almost all English versions) or as simply “my messenger” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew). Despite the fact that the word should be understood in the latter sense in 3:1 (where, however, it refers to a different person), to understand it that way here would result in the book being of anonymous authorship, a situation anomalous among all the prophetic literature of the OT.

[1:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “seek the face of God.”

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[4:4]  ⁴² sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).

[4:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “which I commanded him in Horeb concerning all Israel, statutes and ordinances.”

[1:14]  ⁴⁴ 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.

[3:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “What [is the] profit”; NIV “What did we gain.”

[3:14]  ⁴⁶ sn The people’s public display of self-effacing piety has gone unrewarded by the Lord. The reason, of course, is that it was blatantly hypocritical.

[1:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “fruit.” The following word “food” in the Hebrew text (אָכְלוֹ, ’okhlo) appears to be an explanatory gloss to clarify the meaning of the rare word נִיב (niv, “fruit”; see Isa 57:19 Qere; נוֹב, nov, “fruit,” in Kethib). Cf. ASV “the fruit thereof, even its food.” In this cultic context the reference is to the offerings on the altar.

[3:4]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “gift.”

[3:4]  ⁴⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:15]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and not one has done, and a remnant of the spirit to him.” The very elliptical nature of the statement suggests it is proverbial. The present translation represents an attempt to clarify the meaning of the statement (cf. NASB).

[2:15]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the one.” This is an oblique reference to Abraham who sought to obtain God’s blessing by circumventing God’s own plan for him by taking Hagar as wife (Gen 16:1-6). The result of this kind of intermarriage was, of course, disastrous (Gen 16:11-12).

[2:15]  ⁵² sn The wife he took in his youth probably refers to the first wife one married (cf. NCV “the wife you married when you were young”).

[1:7]  ⁵³ sn The word table, here a synonym for “altar,” has overtones of covenant imagery in which a feast shared by the covenant partners was an important element (see Exod 24:11). It also draws attention to the analogy of sitting down at a common meal with the governor (v. 8).

[2:3]  ⁵⁴ tc The phrase “discipline your children” is disputed. The LXX and Vulgate suppose זְרוֹעַ (zÿroa’, “arm”) for the MT זֶרַע (zera’, “seed”; hence, “children”). Then, for the MT גֹעֵר (go’er, “rebuking”) the same versions suggest גָּרַע (gara’, “take away”). The resulting translation is “I am about to take away your arm” (cf. NAB “deprive you of the shoulder”). However, this reading is unlikely. It is common for a curse (v. 2) to fall on offspring (see, e.g., Deut 28:18, 32, 41, 53, 55, 57), but a curse never takes the form of a broken or amputated arm. It is preferable to retain the reading of the MT here.

[2:3]  ⁵⁵ tn The Hebrew term פֶרֶשׁ (feresh, “offal”) refers to the entrails as ripped out in preparing a sacrificial victim (BDB 831 s.v. פֶּרֶשׁ). This graphic term has been variously translated: “dung” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NLT); “refuse” (NKJV, NASB); “offal” (NEB, NIV).

[2:3]  ⁵⁶ sn See Zech 3:3-4 for similar coarse imagery which reflects cultic disqualification.