Malachi 4
New International Reader's Version
The Day of the Lord Is Coming
4 “You can be sure the day of the Lord is coming. My anger will burn like a furnace. All those who are proud will be like straw. So will all those who do what is evil. The day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord who rules over all. “Not even a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But here is what will happen for you who have respect for me. The sun that brings life will rise. Its rays will bring healing to my people. You will go out and leap for joy like calves that have just been fed. 3 Then you will stomp on sinful people. They will be like ashes under your feet. That will happen on the day I judge,” says the Lord.
4 “Remember the law my servant Moses gave you. Remember the rules and laws I gave him at Mount Horeb. They were for the whole nation of Israel.
5 “I will send the prophet Elijah to you. He will come before the day of the Lord arrives. It will be a great and terrifying day. 6 Elijah will bring peace between parents and their children. He will also bring peace between children and their parents. If that does not happen, I will come. And I will completely destroy the land.”
Malachi 4
EasyEnglish Bible
4 ‘The great day when I come to judge people will certainly happen. Punishment will come like the great fire of a hot oven. It will destroy all the proud people who do evil things. It will completely destroy them, like a fire that destroys dry grass. Nothing will remain.’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
2 ‘But it will be different for you who respect my name. My power to make you well again will come to you. It will be like the sun that rises to shine on you. When that happens, you will be very happy. You will jump up and down like young cows when someone lets them go free.[a] 3 Then you will walk over the wicked people. They will be like ashes under your feet. That will happen on the day when I do these things.’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
4 ‘Remember the rules that I gave to my servant Moses at Sinai mountain. Those rules and laws were for all the Israelites to obey.[b]
5 Look! I will send my prophet Elijah to you.[c] He will come before that great day of the Lord arrives. That will be a day that makes people afraid. 6 He will speak my message, so that fathers and their children return together to me.[d] Then I will not have to come and bring punishment on the land.’
Footnotes
- 4:2 The sun can burn with a strong heat and it can cause a fire. But the sun can also make people well. When Jesus appears on the great day of the Lord, people who worship the Lord will become completely well. They will be very happy.
- 4:4 See Exodus 20:1-17.
- 4:5 Elijah was a prophet who spoke God's message to the people. See 1 Kings 17:1. Here, God promises that another ‘Elijah’ will come before the day of the Lord. About 460 years after Malachi wrote his book, John the Baptist was born. People thought that he was like Elijah. He prepared the way for Jesus to come.
- 4:6 return together to me or return to each other as friends.
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