Malachi 1:4

1:4 Edom 1  says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all 2  responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as 3  the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.

Malachi 1:10

1:10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, 4  so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you.

Malachi 2:2

2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously 5  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment 6  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

Malachi 3:10

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse 7  so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.

1 sn Edom, a “brother” nation to Israel, became almost paradigmatic of hostility toward Israel and God (see Num 20:14-21; Deut 2:8; Jer 49:7-22; Ezek 25:12-14; Amos 1:11-12; Obad 10-12).

2 sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Malachi (24 times total). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

3 tn Heb “and they will call them.” The third person plural subject is indefinite; one could translate, “and people will call them.”

4 sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.

5 tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

6 tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”

7 tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”