Malachi 1:8

1:8 For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, ¹  is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them ²  to your governor! Will he be pleased with you ³  or show you favor?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

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 1:14

1:14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” ⁵  says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Malachi 2:2

2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously ⁶  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment ⁷  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

Malachi 2:14

2:14 Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, ⁸  to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. ⁹ 

Malachi 3:1

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, ¹⁰  who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord ¹¹  you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger ¹²  of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ¹³  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ¹⁴  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ¹⁵  who refuse to help ¹⁶  the immigrant ¹⁷  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 3:7

3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored ¹⁸  my commandments ¹⁹  and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord who rules over all. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’

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¹ sn Offerings of animals that were lame or sick were strictly forbidden by the Mosaic law (see Deut 15:21).

² tn Heb “it” (so NAB, NASB). Contemporary English more naturally uses a plural pronoun to agree with “the lame and sick” in the previous question (cf. NIV, NCV).

³ tc The LXX and Vulgate read “with it” (which in Hebrew would be הֲיִרְצֵהוּ, hayirtsehu, a reading followed by NAB) rather than “with you” of the MT (הֲיִרְצְךָ, hayirtsÿkha). The MT (followed here by most English versions) is to be preferred because of the parallel with the following phrase פָנֶיךָ (fanekha, “receive you,” which the present translation renders as “show you favor”).

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 sn The epithet great king was used to describe the Hittite rulers on their covenant documents and so, in the covenant ideology of Malachi, is an apt description of the Lord.

⁶ tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

⁷ tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”

⁸ tn Heb “the Lord is a witness between you and [between] the wife of your youth.”

⁹ sn Though there is no explicit reference to marriage vows in the OT (but see Job 7:13; Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8), the term law (Heb “covenant”) here asserts that such vows or agreements must have existed. References to divorce documents (e.g., Deut 24:1-3; Jer 3:8) also presuppose the existence of marriage documents.

¹⁰ tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).

¹¹ tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered Lord). Thus the focus is not on the Lord as the covenant God, but on his role as master.

¹² sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.

¹³ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

¹⁴ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

¹⁷ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “turned aside from.”

¹⁹ tn Or “statutes” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “decrees”; NLT “laws.”