Malachi 3
3
1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 2But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: 3and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
4Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. 6For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Return Unto Me
7Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
Final Triumph
13Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? 14Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? 15And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
16Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
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Malachi 3: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James VersionMalachi 3
3
1Look! I am sending my messenger,#3:1. Malachi means “my messenger.” and he will prepare the way for me. The Lord you are seeking#3:1. In the light of the previous verses, the idea that God is being sought is surely ironic. will suddenly arrive at his Temple. The messenger of the agreement you say is so happy with you#3:1. “You say is so happy with you”: referring back to 2:17. is coming, says the Lord Almighty. 2Who can survive the day when he comes? Who can stand before him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing furnace that refines metal, or like the strong alkali that cleanses stains. 3He will sit down like a refiner who purifies silver; he will purify Levi's descendants and refine them like gold and silver so they can present pure offerings to the Lord. 4Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as they did in the old days, in the former years. 5I will come and put you on trial. I am ready to be a witness against those who:
practice witchcraft
commit adultery
tell lies
give false evidence
cheat employees
oppress widows and orphans
abuse foreigners
and do not respect me, says the Lord Almighty. 6For I am the Lord, I don't change, and you haven't stopped being descendants of Jacob.#3:6. There is debate over the meaning of this second part of the verse. It could be interpreted that it is because of God's unchanging nature that the descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. However, in context it seems more likely that God is saying “I haven't changed, and you haven't changed either—you are just like your forefather Jacob who was a deceiver too…” The word used can mean either “ended as in destroyed,” or simply “stopped.” 7From the time of your forefathers onward, you have turned away from my laws and not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty.
But you ask, “How should we return?”#3:7. The sense seems to be that the people do not see any necessity to return, not recognizing they have done anything wrong.
8Should people defraud God? Yet you are defrauding me!#3:8. “Defraud”: this is closer to the original meaning than rob. It also continues the theme of the people being descendants of the deceiver Jacob, who defrauded his brother out of his birthright.
But you ask, “How have we defrauded you?”
In tithes and offerings. 9You are under a curse, for you and the whole nation are defrauding me. 10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse so that there will be food in my Temple. Put me to the test in this, says the Lord Almighty, and I will open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you won't have enough room for it. 11I will prevent locusts#3:11. Literally, “the devourer.” from destroying your crops, and your vineyards will not fail to bear fruit, says the Lord Almighty. 12All nations will call you blessed because you live in such a wonderful land, says the Lord Almighty.
13You have said hard things about me, says the Lord.
But you say, “What have we said against you?” 14You have said, “What's the point of serving God? What benefit is there in keeping his commandments or going before the Lord Almighty with long faces?#3:14. “Long faces”: literally, “as mourners”—however it does not appear that the people were sincerely repentant. 15From now on we'll say that the proud are blessed. Evil people do well, and nothing happens when they dare God to punish them.”
16Then those who truly respected the Lord spoke to each other, and the Lord heard what they said. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence of those who respected the Lord and paid attention to him.#3:16. “Paid attention to him”: literally, “pondered his name.” 17They shall be mine, says the Lord Almighty, my prized possession on the day when I take action. I will treat them kindly, as a father treats an obedient son. 18Then you will once again be able to distinguish those who do right from those who do wrong, between those who serve him and those who don't.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com