Malachi 3:1-3

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. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering.

Malachi 4:1

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.

Hebrews 3:1-3

Jesus and Moses

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, ⁸  partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, ⁹  3:2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s ¹⁰  house. ¹¹  3:3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself!

Hebrews 10:28-31

10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death ¹²  without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ¹³  10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ¹⁴  the Son of God, and profanes ¹⁵  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ¹⁶  and insults the Spirit of grace? 10:30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” ¹⁷  and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ¹⁸  10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 12:25

12:25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?

[3:1]  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).

[3:1]  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.

[3:1]  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.

[3:2]  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.

[4:1]  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.

[4:1]  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.

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[3:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “of our confession.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:2]  ¹¹ tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (Ì^13,46vid B vg^ms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy) insert “all” (“in all his house”), apparently in anticipation of Heb 3:5 which quotes directly from Num 12:7. On balance, the omission better explains the rise of ὅλῳ ({olw, “all”) than vice versa. NA²⁷ puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[10:28]  ¹² tn Grk “dies.”

[10:28]  ¹³ sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.

[10:29]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “tramples under foot.”

[10:29]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “regarded as common.”

[10:29]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”

[10:30]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.

[10:30]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 32:36.