Malachi 3

The Messenger of the Lord

1 g "Behold, I send h my messenger, and i he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord j whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and k the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But l who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For m he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 He will sit n as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring o offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 1 4 p Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

5 "Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be q a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those r who oppress the hired worker in his wages, s the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Robbing God

6 "For t I the Lord do not change; u therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 v From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. w Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. x But you say, 'How shall we return?' 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. x But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' y In your tithes and contributions. 9 z You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 a Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby b put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open c the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke d the devourer 2 for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then e all nations will call you blessed, for you will be f a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

13 g "Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. h But you say, 'How have we spoken against you?' 14 You have said, i 'It is vain to serve God. j What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15 And now we call k the arrogant blessed. k Evildoers not only prosper but l they put God to the test and they escape.'"

The Book of Remembrance

16 Then those who feared the Lord m spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and n a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 17 "They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, o in the day when I make up p my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall q see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

  1. Cross References
    Matthew 11:10
    This is he of whom it is written, "'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.
    Mark 1:2
    As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way.
    Luke 7:27
    This is he of whom it is written, "'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.
    Malachi 4:5
    Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
    Luke 1:76
    And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.
  2. Cross References
    Malachi 2:7
    For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:3
    A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord ; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
  4. Cross References
    Malachi 2:17
    You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them." Or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?
  5. Cross References
    Malachi 4:5
    Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
  6. Cross References
    Joel 2:11
    The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 4:4
    When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:25
    I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
    Zechariah 13:9
    And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'
  9. Cross References
    Malachi 1:7
    By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, 'How have we polluted you?' By saying that the Lord 's table may be despised.
  10. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:40
    For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings.
  11. Cross References
    Malachi 2:14
    But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
    Jeremiah 29:23
    Because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.'
  12. Cross References
    Leviticus 19:13
    You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
  13. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 24:17
    You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge.
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 102:27
    But you are the same, and your years have no end.
    Numbers 23:19
    God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
  15. Cross References
    Lamentations 3:22
    The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.
  16. Cross References
    Acts 7:51
    You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
  17. Cross References
    Zechariah 1:3
    Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
  18. Cross References
    Malachi 1:2
    I have loved you," says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the Lord. "Yet I have loved Jacob
  19. Cross References
    Malachi 3:7
    From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?
  20. Cross References
    Nehemiah 13:10
    I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.
  21. Cross References
    Malachi 2:2
    If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
  22. Cross References
    Proverbs 3:9 - 10
    Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
  23. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 9:6 - 8
    The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
  24. Cross References
    Genesis 7:11
    In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
  25. Cross References
    Joel 1:4
    What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.
  26. Cross References
    Zephaniah 3:19
    Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
  27. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:4
    You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.
  28. Cross References
    Malachi 2:17
    You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them." Or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?
  29. Cross References
    Malachi 1:2
    I have loved you," says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the Lord. "Yet I have loved Jacob
  30. Cross References
    Zephaniah 1:12
    At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, 'The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.
  31. Cross References
    Job 21:15
    What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?
  32. Cross References
    Malachi 4:1
    For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
  33. Cross References
    Malachi 4:1
    For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
  34. Cross References
    Psalms 95:9
    When your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
  35. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 6:6 - 7
    And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
  36. Cross References
    Exodus 32:32
    But now, if you will forgive their sin - but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.
  37. Cross References
    Malachi 4:3
    And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
    Acts 17:31
    Because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
  38. Cross References
    Exodus 19:5
    Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.
    1 Peter 2:9
    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
  39. Cross References
    Malachi 4:1
    For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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