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16 Then those who respected[a] the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice.[b] A scroll[c] was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name. 17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “in the day when I prepare my own special property.[d] I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between[e] the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

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Footnotes

  1. Malachi 3:16 tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”
  2. Malachi 3:16 tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”
  3. Malachi 3:16 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).
  4. Malachi 3:17 sn The Hebrew word סְגֻלָּה (segullah, “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.
  5. Malachi 3:18 tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”

16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name. 17 They shall be mine,” says Yahweh of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18 Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.

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