Genesis 18:28

18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ¹  the whole city because five are lacking?” ²  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

Malachi 3:18

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

Malachi 3:2

3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, ⁴  like a launderer’s soap.

Malachi 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 ⁵  instruction.”

¹ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

² tn Heb “because of five.”

³ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”

⁴ sn The refiner’s fire was used to purify metal and refine it by melting it and allowing the dross, which floated to the top, to be scooped off.

⁵ tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).