Malachi 3:16

3:16 Then those who respected ¹  the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. ²  A scroll ³  was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ⁴  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ⁵  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ⁶  who refuse to help ⁷  the immigrant ⁸  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 3:15

3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. ⁹  In fact, those who challenge ¹⁰  God escape!’”

Malachi 3:18

3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between ¹¹  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

Malachi 1:8

1:8 For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, ¹²  is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them ¹³  to your governor! Will he be pleased with you ¹⁴  or show you favor?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 2:12

2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community ¹⁵  of Jacob every last person who does this, ¹⁶  as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all!

¹ tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

² tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

³ 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).

⁴ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

⁵ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

⁶ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

⁷ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

⁸ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

⁷ tn Heb “built up” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “prosper”; NLT “get rich.”

⁸ tn Or “test”; NRSV, CEV “put God to the test.”

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

¹³ sn Offerings of animals that were lame or sick were strictly forbidden by the Mosaic law (see Deut 15:21).

¹⁴ tn Heb “it” (so NAB, NASB). Contemporary English more naturally uses a plural pronoun to agree with “the lame and sick” in the previous question (cf. NIV, NCV).

¹⁵ tc The LXX and Vulgate read “with it” (which in Hebrew would be הֲיִרְצֵהוּ, hayirtsehu, a reading followed by NAB) rather than “with you” of the MT (הֲיִרְצְךָ, hayirtsÿkha). The MT (followed here by most English versions) is to be preferred because of the parallel with the following phrase פָנֶיךָ (fanekha, “receive you,” which the present translation renders as “show you favor”).

¹⁶ tn Heb “tents,” used figuratively for the community here (cf. NCV, TEV); NLT “the nation of Israel.”

¹⁷ 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.