Malachi 3:1-2

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, ¹  who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord ²  you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger ³  of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

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 4:1-2

4:1 (3:19) ⁵  “For indeed the day ⁶  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 ⁷  will not leave even a root or branch. 4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication ⁸  will rise with healing wings, ⁹  and you will skip about ¹⁰  like calves released from the stall.

Matthew 24:30

24:30 Then ¹¹  the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, ¹²  and ¹³  all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They ¹⁴  will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven ¹⁵  with power and great glory.

Matthew 25:31

The Judgment

25:31 “When ¹⁶  the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

Matthew 26:64

26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand ¹⁷  of the Power ¹⁸  and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ¹⁹ 

Matthew 26:1

The Plot Against Jesus

26:1 When ²⁰  Jesus had finished saying all these things, he told his disciples,

Matthew 5:2

5:2 Then ²¹  he began to teach ²²  them by saying:

Matthew 5:2

5:2 Then ²³  he began to teach ²⁴  them by saying:

Matthew 2:2

2:2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose ²⁵  and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:8

2:8 He ²⁶  sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.”

James 5:8

5:8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near.

James 5:2

5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten.

James 3:10

3:10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters. ²⁷ 

¹ tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).

² tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered Lord). Thus the focus is not on the Lord as the covenant God, but on his role as master.

³ sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.

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 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

⁸ tn Here the Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah), usually translated “righteousness” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT; cf. NAB “justice”), has been rendered as “vindication” because it is the vindication of God’s people that is in view in the context. Cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6; “righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.”

⁹ sn The point of the metaphor of healing wings is unclear. The sun seems to be compared to a bird. Perhaps the sun’s “wings” are its warm rays. “Healing” may refer to a reversal of the injury done by evildoers (see Mal 3:5).

¹⁰ tn Heb “you will go out and skip about.”

¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

¹² tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

¹³ tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

¹⁵ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.

¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁷ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1. This is a claim that Jesus shares authority with God in heaven. Those present may have thought they were his judges, but, in fact, the reverse was true.

¹⁸ sn The expression the right hand of the Power is a circumlocution for referring to God. Such indirect references to God were common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.

¹⁹ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).

²⁰ tn Grk “And it happened when.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

²² tn Grk “And opening his mouth he taught them, saying.” The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken) has been translated ingressively.

²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

²⁴ tn Grk “And opening his mouth he taught them, saying.” The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken) has been translated ingressively.

²⁵ tn Or “in its rising,” referring to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the “East” in v. 1 is ἀνατολαί (anatolai, a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ἀνατολή (anatolh) is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated “in the east” (cf. BDAG 74 s.v. 1: “because of the sg. and the article in contrast to ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, vs. 1, [it is] prob. not a geograph. expr. like the latter, but rather astronomical…likew. vs. 9”).

²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

²⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.