Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mal 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V18
OET (OET-LV) And_they_will_be to_me YHWH he_says hosts to_day when I will_be_making a_possession and_I_will_have_compassion on_them just_as he_has_compassion everyone on his/its_son who_serves DOM_him/it.
OET (OET-RV) “They’ll be mine,” says army-commander Yahweh. “On the day when I assemble my treasured possession, I won’t punish those people, just like a father doesn’t punish his son who obeys him.
Notice that this section also starts with the “Statement, Question, Response” pattern. However this time the sequence is expanded. The “Statement-Question” part occurs twice before a longer “Response” is given. (Another difference is that the second statement begins with a short question.) The “Statement-Question-Response” pattern marks the beginning of a new section.
3:6 is a transitional verse, as 2:17 was. Again, it is recommended that you take it as the first verse of this new section.
“They will be Mine,”
“I will make these people who revere me my very own,”
They will be Mine: This indicates that the people who feared the LORD would belong to him in a special sense as his people. This may be difficult to express in some languages. It may seem obvious that everyone and everything already belongs to the LORD. This is true in the sense that he has control over them. However the meaning in this verse is that the LORD will give these people a special relationship with himself.
They: This refers to the people who feared the LORD and who have just been mentioned in 3:16.
says the LORD of Hosts,
Yahweh Sabaot declares,
Yahweh Sabaot says,
says the LORD of Hosts: See the note on 3:1f.
the LORD of Hosts: See the note on 3:1f.
“on the day when I prepare My treasured possession.
“on that day when I will act to judge people. I will cause them to be like a special treasure to me.
on the day when I prepare My treasured possession: There are different interpretations of this verse part. The two major views are:
The Hebrew verb which the BSB translates as prepare has a general meaning. What the LORD will do on the day is not mentioned specifically here. For example:
On the day when I act, they will be my own special treasure. (NLT) (RSV, NJB, GNT, NLT, NJPS, REB)
The Hebrew verb which the BSB translates as prepare relates specifically to the expression which the BSB translates as My treasured possession. For example:
in the day when I make up my treasured possession. (NIV) (BSB, NIV, NET, NASB, KJV, GW)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The Hebrew word translated prepare is a general word. However, in this context it refers to the day when the LORD will act as judge to punish or reward people.
My treasured possession: This expression reflects the words of the covenant which the LORD made with the people of Israel at Sinai. In that covenant he chose them to be his own people, to belong to him (Exodus 19:5). The expression used here (My treasured possession) implies that they were special to him and that he would especially value them.
In some languages, it may not be natural to speak of people as a possession in this way. Some other possibilities for translation are:
Use a simile. For example:
They will be like a treasure to me.
They will be as precious to me as a king’s most treasured possession.
Omit the reference to a possession.
they will be my very own. (GNT)
they will be my own special treasure. (NLT)
You people are precious to me. (CEV)
Use an option which will be natural in your language.
In some languages it may be more natural to re-order some of the information in 3:17a–c. For example:
17bYahweh Sabaot says, 17c“On that day when I will come and judge people, I will take these people who respected me to belong to me in a special way 17aand they will be my very own.”
17bThe Lord All-Powerful says, 17a“They belong to me; 17con that day they will be my very own.” (NCV)
And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
In compassion I will spare them from judgement, just as a father shows compassion/mercy to his child who obeys him.
As a father shows mercy to his obedient child and does not punish him severely, I will also show mercy to them.
I will spare them: The Hebrew verb which the BSB translates as spare indicates that the LORD would have mercy on these people and spare them from judgement. That is, he would not punish them. Most English versions use the word spare (BSB, RSV, NIV, NET, NLT, REB, KJV, NASB NJB GW), but some versions use the idea of “mercy,” “compassion,” or “protection.” (GNT, CEV, NCV, NJPS) Here are examples of translation possibilities:
I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. (NIV)
As a parent shows mercy to his child who serves him, I will show mercy to my people. (NCV)
who serves him: This refers to a person who loyally obeys the LORD and submits to his will. Use a natural expression in your language for obeying or submitting to someone in authority. This same expression is also used in 3:18b.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
וְהָ֣יוּ לִ֗י אָמַר֙ יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֔וֹת & סְגֻלָּ֑ה
and=they_will_be to=me he/it_had_said YHWH armies/messengers & treasured_possession
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of possession, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [“And I will possess them” says Yahweh of Armies, “in a special way”]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
לַיּ֕וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י עֹשֶׂ֣ה
to,day which/who I producing
Yahweh speaks as if he is preparing a day. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [at the time when I act, as I am now preparing to do]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / simile
כַּֽאֲשֶׁר֙
just,as
The point of this comparison is that just as a father tenderly cares for his son who serves him, so Yahweh will tenderly care for those who serve him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this point explicitly. Alternate translation: [in the same way that]
3:17 special treasure: Israel had a privileged status as God’s people; they were his private property.
OET (OET-LV) And_they_will_be to_me YHWH he_says hosts to_day when I will_be_making a_possession and_I_will_have_compassion on_them just_as he_has_compassion everyone on his/its_son who_serves DOM_him/it.
OET (OET-RV) “They’ll be mine,” says army-commander Yahweh. “On the day when I assemble my treasured possession, I won’t punish those people, just like a father doesn’t punish his son who obeys him.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.
Open Bible Data site copyright © 2023–2026 Freely-Given.org.
Python source code for creating these static pages is available on GitHub under an open licence.
For Bible data copyrights, see the details for each displayed Bible version.
The Open English Translation (OET) main site is at OpenEnglishTranslation.Bible or OET.Bible.