Malachi 3:6

Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness

3:6 “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, ¹  you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.

Malachi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ²  “For indeed the day ³  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 ⁴  will not leave even a root or branch.

[3:6]  ¹ tn Heb “do not change.” This refers to God’s ongoing commitment to his covenant promises to Israel.

[4:1]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.