Malachi 3:13-4:3

English Standard Version

¹³^(A)“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. ^(B)But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ ¹⁴You have said, ^(C)‘It is vain to serve God. ^(D)What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? ¹⁵And now we call ^(E)the arrogant blessed. ^(F)Evildoers not only prosper but ^(G)they put God to the test and they escape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶Then those who feared the Lord ^(H)spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and ^(I)a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ¹⁷“They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, ^(J)in the day when I make up ^(K)my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸Then once more you shall ^(L)see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

The Great Day of the Lord

4 ^[a] “For behold, ^(M)the day is coming, ^(N)burning like an oven, when ^(O)all the arrogant and ^(P)all evildoers ^(Q)will be stubble. The day that is coming ^(R)shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ²But for you ^(S)who fear my name, ^(T)the sun ^(U)of righteousness shall rise ^(V)with healing in its wings. You shall go out ^(W)leaping like calves from the stall. ³And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, ^(X)on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.