Malachi 1:7

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

Malachi 1:9

1:9 But now plead for God’s favor ²  that he might be gracious to us. ³  “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 2:4

2:4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant ⁴  may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 2:7-8

2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him ⁵  because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all. 2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; ⁶  you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” ⁷  says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 2:11-13

2:11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. ⁸  For Judah has profaned ⁹  the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! ¹⁰  2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community ¹¹  of Jacob every last person who does this, ¹²  as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all!

2:13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears ¹³  as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you.

Malachi 3:7

3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored ¹⁴  my commandments ¹⁵  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?’

Malachi 3:11

3:11 Then I will stop the plague ¹⁶  from ruining your crops, ¹⁷  and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 3:14

3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ¹⁸  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ¹⁹ 

Malachi 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.

Malachi 4:5

4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah ²⁰  the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

¹ 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 tn Heb “seek the face of God.”

³ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).

³ sn My covenant refers to the priestly covenant through Aaron and his grandson Phinehas (see Exod 6:16-20; Num 25:10-13; Jer 33:21-22). The point here is to contrast the priestly ideal with the disgraceful manner in which it was being carried out in postexilic times.

⁴ tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

⁵ 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).

⁶ tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn Or perhaps “secularized”; cf. NIV “desecrated”; TEV, NLT “defiled”; CEV “disgraced.”

⁸ 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.

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

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.

⁸ sn You cover the altar of the Lord with tears. These tears are the false tears of hypocrisy, not genuine tears of repentance. The people weep because the Lord will not hear them, not because of their sin.

⁹ tn Heb “turned aside from.”

¹⁰ tn Or “statutes” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “decrees”; NLT “laws.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the eater” (אֹכֵל, ’okhel), a general term for any kind of threat to crops and livelihood. This is understood as a reference to a locust plague by a number of English versions: NAB, NRSV “the locust”; NIV “pests”; NCV, TEV “insects.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and I will rebuke for you the eater and it will not ruin for you the fruit of the ground.”

¹¹ tn Heb “What [is the] profit”; NIV “What did we gain.”

¹² 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.

¹² sn I will send you Elijah the prophet. In light of the ascension of Elijah to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11), Judaism has always awaited his return as an aspect of the messianic age (see, e.g., John 1:19-28). Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah, because he came in the “spirit and power” of his prototype Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).