Malachi 3:13-18

Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency

3:13 “You have criticized me sharply,” says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’ 3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? 3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!’”

3:16 Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name. 3:17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between 10  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.


tn Heb “your words are hard [or “strong”] against me”; cf. NIV “said harsh things against me”; TEV, NLT “said terrible things about me.”

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

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.

tn Heb “built up” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “prosper”; NLT “get rich.”

tn Or “test”; NRSV, CEV “put God to the test.”

tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

sn The scroll mentioned here is a “memory book” (סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן, sefer zikkaron) in which the Lord keeps an ongoing record of the names of all the redeemed (see Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1; Rev 20:12-15).

sn The Hebrew word סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah, “special property”) is a technical term referring to all the recipients of God’s redemptive grace, especially Israel (Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18). The Lord says here that he will not forget even one individual in the day of judgment and reward.

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