Malachi 3:18

3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between ¹  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

Malachi 3:14

3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ²  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ³ 

Malachi 3:17

3:17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property. ⁴  I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

Malachi 1:13

1:13 You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?” ⁵  asks the Lord.

[3:18]  ¹ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”

[3:14]  ² tn Heb “What [is the] profit”; NIV “What did we gain.”

[3:14]  ³ 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.

[3:17]  ³ 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.

[1:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “from your hand,” a metonymy of part (the hand) for whole (the person).