Malachi 3:11-18

3:11 Then I will stop the plague ¹  from ruining your crops, ²  and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who rules over all. 3:12 “All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in ³  a delightful land,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency

3:13 “You have criticized me sharply,” ⁴  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 ⁵  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ⁶  3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. ⁷  In fact, those who challenge ⁸  God escape!’”

3:16 Then those who respected ⁹  the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. ¹⁰  A scroll ¹¹  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. ¹²  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 ¹³  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

[3:11]  ¹ 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.”

[3:11]  ² tn Heb “and I will rebuke for you the eater and it will not ruin for you the fruit of the ground.”

[3:12]  ³ tn Heb “will be” (so NAB, NRSV); TEV “your land will be a good place to live in.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “your words are hard [or “strong”] against me”; cf. NIV “said harsh things against me”; TEV, NLT “said terrible things about me.”

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “What [is the] profit”; NIV “What did we gain.”

[3:14]  ⁸ 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.

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “built up” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “prosper”; NLT “get rich.”

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “test”; NRSV, CEV “put God to the test.”

[3:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

[3:16]  ¹² tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

[3:16]  ¹³ 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).

[3:17]  ¹³ 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.

[3:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”