Malachi 4
New King James Version
The Great Day of God
4 “For behold, (A)the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all (B)the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be (C)stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will (D)leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But to you who (E)fear My name
The (F)Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
3 (G)You shall trample the wicked,
For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
On the day that I do this,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
4 “Remember the (H)Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With (I)the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you (J)Elijah the prophet
(K)Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
6 And (L)he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and (M)strike the earth with (N)a curse.”
Malachi 4
New American Standard Bible
Final Admonition
4 “[a]For behold, the day is coming, (A)burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be (B)chaff; and the day that is coming will (C)set them ablaze,” says the Lord of armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branches. 2 But for you who [b]fear My name, the (D)sun of righteousness will rise with (E)healing in its wings; and you will go forth and (F)frolic like calves from the stall. 3 And you will (G)crush the wicked underfoot, for they will be (H)ashes under the soles of your feet (I)on the day [c]that I am preparing,” says the Lord of armies.
4 “(J)Remember the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I am going to send you (K)Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 He will (L)turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and (M)strike the land with complete destruction.”
Footnotes
- Malachi 4:1 Ch 3:19 in Heb
- Malachi 4:2 Or revere
- Malachi 4:3 Or when I act
Malachi 4
The Voice
4 Eternal One: For behold the day of burning will come, smoldering like a furnace. The arrogant and the evil will be set ablaze like the worthless chaff of grain. Neither roots nor branch will remain. I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promise this. 2 But for you, the ones who tremble at the sound of My name, a warm sun of righteousness will come forth with healing in its rays, and you will go out, springing from the stalls like calves in open pasture. 3 Then you will trample the criminal; your feet will make them ash on the day I am preparing. I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promise this.
4 Remember the instructions which Moses, My faithful servant, received from Me at Mount Horeb and gave to all Israel. Remember its statutes and judgments.
5 Keep watch. I am sending Elijah the prophet to you before the arrival of the great and terrible day of the Eternal One, 6 and he will return parents’ hearts to their children and children’s hearts to their parents, or else I will come and strike the land of promise with a curse of annihilation.
These verses simultaneously display retrospective and prospective dimensions of Malachi’s conversation with the people, especially the temple priests, of Jerusalem. Malachi calls his contemporaries to remember the life and message of Moses and future generations to look forward to the life and message of the Elijah who is to come. As Ezra in the fifth century b.c. is like Elijah, reflecting these expectations, so John the Baptist is the messenger par excellence 400 years later when he prepares the world for Jesus of Nazareth, God’s Anointed One.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

