MAL 1:9 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) So now bring you requests to God and hope to be showered by his grace. Ha, army-commander Yahweh asks how he could treat you all favourably when you’re bringing second-class offerings?

1:9 OSHB note: We agree with both BHS 1997 and BHQ on an unexpected reading.

Key: khaki:verbs, blue:Elohim, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ νῦν ἐξιλάσκεσθε τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑμῶν, καὶ δεήθητε αὐτοῦ. Ἐν χερσὶν ὑμῶν γέγονε ταῦτα, εἰ λήψομαι ἐξ ὑμῶν πρόσωπα ὑμῶν; λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ.
(Kai nun exilaskesthe to prosōpon tou Theou humōn, kai deaʸthaʸte autou. En ⱪersin humōn gegone tauta, ei laʸpsomai ex humōn prosōpa humōn; legei Kurios pantokratōr. )

BrTr And now [fn]intreat the face of your God, and make supplication to him. These things have been done by your hands; shall I accept you? saith the Lord Almighty.

ULT “And now, please entreat the face of God, that he may be gracious to us. This has been from your hand. Will he lift up your faces?” says Yahweh of Armies.

UST “But you are asking me, God, to be kind to you, even though you have done these wrong things. Do not think that I will accept you!” This is what Yahweh, who commands the heavenly armies, says.

OEB Now, plead for the favour of God with such an offering, so that he may be gracious to us. ‘Would I receive any of you favourably?’ says the Lord of hosts.

WEBBE “Now, please entreat the favour of God,[fn] that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says the LORD of Armies.

1:9 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

WMBB “Now, please entreat the favour of God,[fn] that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says the LORD of Hosts.

1:9 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

NET But now plead for God’s favor that he might be gracious to us. “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

LSV “And now, please appease the face of God,
And He favors us; This has been from your own hand,
Does He accept your faces?” said YHWH of Hosts.

FBV So why don't you try being kind to God, begging him to be merciful to you?[fn] But when you bring such offerings, why should he show favor to you? asks the Lord Almighty.

1:9 This line is usually taken as ironic.

T4T And he also says, “You plead with me to be merciful to you. But you bring to me sacrifices that are not acceptable to me, so why should I be kind to you [RHQ]?”

LEB So then, _⌊implore the favor of God_⌋[fn] so that he will be gracious to us. “_⌊This is what you have done_⌋.[fn] _⌊Will he show favor to any of you_⌋?”[fn] says Yahweh of hosts.

1:9 Literally “appease, please, the face of God”

1:9 Literally “From your hand was this”

1:9 Literally “will he lift up from you a face”

BBE And now, make request for the grace of God so that he may have mercy on us: this has been your doing: will he give his approval to any of you? says the Lord of armies.

Moff Try to pacify God and win his favour? How can he favour any one of you, says the Lord of hosts, when you offer him such sacrifices?

JPS And now, I pray you, entreat the favour of God that He may be gracious unto us! — This hath been of your doing. — Will He accept any of your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.

ASV And now, I pray you, entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he accept any of your persons? saith Jehovah of hosts.

DRA And now beseech ye the face of God, that he may have mercy on you, (for by your hand hath this been done,) if by any means he will receive your faces, saith the Lord of hosts.

YLT And now, appease, I pray thee, the face of God, And He doth favour us; From your own hand hath this been, Doth He accept of you appearances? Said Jehovah of Hosts.

Drby And now, I pray you, beseech [fn]God that he will be gracious unto us. This hath been of your hand: will he accept any of your persons? saith Jehovah of hosts.

1.9 El

RV And now, I pray you, entreat the favour of God, that he may be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he accept any of your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
(And now, I pray you, entreat the favour of God, that he may be gracious unto us: this hath/has been by your means: will he accept any of your persons? saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies. )

SLT And now, beseech now, the face of God, and he will be gracious to us: this was from your hand: will he lift up from you the faces? says Jehovah of armies.

Wbstr And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious to us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your person? saith the LORD of hosts.

KJB-1769 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.[fn][fn]
(And now, I pray you, beseech/implore God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath/has been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies. )

1.9 God: Heb. the face of God

1.9 by…: Heb. from your hand

KJB-1611 [fn][fn]And now I pray you, beseech God, that hee will be gracious vnto vs: this hath beene by your meanes: will he regard your persons, saith the LORD of hostes?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

1:9 Heb. the face of God.

1:9 Heb. from your hand.

Bshps And now I pray you, pray before God, that he may haue mercie vpon vs: (this euill hath ben done by your meanes) wyll he regarde your persons, saith the Lorde of hoastes?
(And now I pray you, pray before God, that he may have mercy upon us: (this evil hath/has been done by your means) will he regard your persons, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies?)

Gnva And nowe, I pray you, pray before God, that he may haue mercie vpon vs: this hath beene by your meanes: will hee regard your persons, sayth the Lord of hostes?
(And now, I pray you, pray before God, that he may have mercy upon us: this hath/has been by your means: will he regard your persons, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies? )

Cvdl And now make youre prayer before God, that he maye haue mercy vpon vs: for soch thinges haue ye done. Shal he regarde youre personnes (thynke ye) sayeth the LORDE of hoostes?
(And now make your(pl) prayer before God, that he may have mercy upon us: for such things have ye/you_all done. Shall he regard your(pl) persons (thynke ye) saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies?)

Wycl And now biseche ye the cheer of the Lord, that he haue merci on you; for of youre hond this thing is doon, if in ony maner he resseiue youre faces, seith the Lord of oostis.
(And now beseech/implore ye/you_all the face of the Lord, that he have mercy on you; for of your(pl) hand this thing is done, if in any manner he receive your(pl) faces, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies.)

Luth So bittet nun GOtt, daß er uns gnädig sei! Denn solches ist geschehen von euch. Meinet ihr, er werde eure Person ansehen? spricht der HErr Zebaoth.
(So requests now God, that he us/to_us/ourselves gracious be! Because such is happen from you. Meinet you(pl)/their/her, he become your(pl) Person seen? speaks/says the/of_the LORD Tsevaot_(of_armies).)

ClVg Et nunc deprecamini vultum Dei ut misereatur vestri (de manu enim vestra factum est hoc), si quomodo suscipiat facies vestras, dicit Dominus exercituum.
(And now deprecamini face of_God as to_be_pitied yours (de by_hand because your done it_is hoc), when/but_if how undertake faces your, he_says Master hosts/soldiers. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:6–2:9: The LORD rebuked the priests

Paragraph 1:6–14

In this paragraph the LORD rebuked the priests because they were bringing imperfect animals to sacrifice to him. By doing this they showed that they did not respect or honor him.

This part of the speech was addressed most strongly to the priests. However Malachi 1:13–14 shows that the people were included too.

1:9

Scholars do not agree as to who is speaking in 1:9. There are three main interpretations:

Both Malachi and the LORD speak in 1:9. In 1:9a it was Malachi himself who was appealing to the priests to repent. In 1:9b–c it was the LORD who was speaking. For example:
But now plead for God’s favor that he might be gracious to us. “With this kind of thing in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the sovereign Lord. (NET) This fits with the use of the Hebrew first person pronoun “us” in 1:9a and with the speech clause “said the LORD of hosts” at the end of the verse.
The LORD himself spoke all the words of 1:9. The main problem with this interpretation is the use of the first person pronoun “us” in 1:9a, which is not translated in the BSB. (BSB, RSV, NIV, NASB) Some versions follow the LXX and use “you” here to avoid this problem. (CEV, GW, REB, NCV, NLT)
Malachi spoke all 1:9 as a comment. This fits with the pronoun “us” and the third person reference to God in 1:9c.There are other precedents for the use of the third person to refer to himself in the words that the LORD, so this in itself does not prove that the LORD is not speaking here. But the use of the first person pronoun “us” seems to be fairly conclusive evidence that the prophet is speaking at this point. But the use of the speech clause “says the LORD of hosts” in 1:9d seems to contradict this interpretation. GNT follows this interpretation, but only by moving the speech clause out of 1:9 altogether:
^8f,g“Would he be pleased with you or grant you any favors?” ⁹Now, you priests, try asking God to be good to us. He will not answer your prayer, and it will be your fault. ¹⁰The Lord Almighty says, “I wish one of you would close…” (GNT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). See the Meaning Line in the Display for an example of this interpretation.

1:9a

“But ask now for God’s favor. Will He be gracious?

And yet you^(plur) bring that kind of gift to God and beg God/him to be kind/good to us^(incl).

But ask now for God’s favor. Will He be gracious?: Most English versions and some commentators interpret this sentence as irony. This could be translated as:

What good will it do if you entreat the favor of God, when you keep on doing the kind of things you are doing?

Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all? (NLT)

The preceding and following contexts are then ironical. In other words, they were a strong rebuke to the priests because they were being hypocritical: they begged for mercy but at the same time offered unclean sacrifices.Some versions (REB) and commentators interpret 1:9a as a genuine appeal to the priests to repent, offering the expectation that the Lord will have mercy. But this is a minority view.

ask: The Hebrew word which the BSB translates as ask means “to pray, beg, plead, entreat.”

God: This is one of the few places in the book in which the general term for God, ʾel, is used, rather than the personal name Yahweh. This may be because of the contrast between God and a human governor (1:8e).

1:9b–c

In these verse parts the LORD asked a rhetorical question. He used this question to rebuke the priests and to emphasize that he would not bless them when they brought improper offerings.

If you do not use rhetorical questions in this way in your language, it may be necessary to use a statement. For example:

If you despise him by bringing such offerings, he certainly will not show you favor!

1:9b

Since this has come from your hands,

“When you^(plur) give him such gifts,
“If you despise him by bringing such offerings,

Since this has come from your hands: The Hebrew phrase which the BSB translates as come from your hands literally means “this is from your hand.” There are two main ways to interpret this phrase:

“This” refers to the offerings of maimed animals described in 1:8. In other words, “if you bring him that kind of an offering…” In this context from your hands means “from you.” For example:
But when you bring that kind of offering… (NLT) (BSB, RSV, NIV, NLT, NCV, NET, NASB)
The statement, “this is from your hand,” means “this is your fault,” or “this is your responsibility.” For example:
and it will be your fault. (GNT) (GNT, CEV, NJPS, GW, NRSV, KJV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).For discussion of other possible interpretations, see Pohlig (1998), pages 44–46. But in spite of these differences of interpretation, all commentators and versions agree on the essential meaning.

1:9c

will He show you favor?”

do you^(plur) think he will agree to favor/bless you?^(plur) No, not at all.”
you^(plur) should know that he will certainly not favor/bless you!^(plur)”

will He show you favor: The LORD referred to himself here as if he were speaking about someone else, by using the third person pronoun He. In some languages this may be confusing. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to indicate that the LORD was referring to himself. For example:

how can I show favor to any of you?

1:9d

asks the LORD of Hosts.

These are the words of Yahweh Sabaot.
Yahweh Sabaot has spoken.
This is what Yahweh Sabaot says to you^(plur).

asks the LORD of Hosts: See the note on 1:6e.

the LORD of Hosts: See the note on 1:4d and 1:6e. Translate this term in the same way here.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

וְ⁠עַתָּ֛ה

and=now

The word the ULT translated as And now is an expression that was used in messages of this time to introduce important points. If your language has a comparable expression that it uses for this same purpose, you can use it in your translation.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

פְנֵי־אֵ֖ל וִֽ⁠יחָנֵ֑⁠נוּ

favour_of god so,that,he_may_show_favor_to_us

Malachi attributes this quotation to Yahweh, but it is something that Yahweh told him to say to the priests. So you could translate it with Malachi as the speaker. However, if you translate it with Yahweh as the speaker, he would be speaking about himself in the third person. If it would be more natural in your language, you could translate it in the first person. Alternate translation: [my face, that I may be gracious to you]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

פְנֵי־אֵ֖ל

favour_of god

Yahweh is using one part of himself, his face, to mean all of him in the act of looking with favor on someone who was praying to him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [God]

Note 4 topic: translate-names

פְנֵי־אֵ֖ל

favour_of god

Malachi is probably using the term God here to contrast with the mention of “the governor” in the previous verse. The implication is that if people would not offer inferior gifts to a human being, they should certainly not offer them to God. So here it would be appropriate to use your language’s term for the true God who created the world rather than using the name Yahweh.

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

וִֽ⁠יחָנֵ֑⁠נוּ

so,that,he_may_show_favor_to_us

Malachi is using the pronoun us to refer to himself and his listeners, so use the inclusive form of that word if your language marks that distinction. (If you are treating this as a direct quotation from Yahweh, you may use the plural form of “you.”)

Note 6 topic: writing-pronouns

מִ⁠יֶּדְ⁠כֶם֙ הָ֣יְתָה זֹּ֔את

from,your_of,hand she/it_was this

The pronoun This refers to the unacceptable sacrifices. It may be helpful to clarify the referent for your readers. Alternate translation: [These unacceptable sacrifices have been from your hand]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

מִ⁠יֶּדְ⁠כֶם֙

from,your_of,hand

Malachi is using one part of the priests‘ bodies, the hand, to mean all of themselves in the act of offering sacrifices. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [from you]

Note 8 topic: grammar-collectivenouns

מִ⁠יֶּדְ⁠כֶם֙

from,your_of,hand

Since Malachi is referring to a group of people, it might be more natural in your language to use the plural form of hand. Alternate translation: [from your hands]

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

הֲ⁠יִשָּׂ֤א מִ⁠כֶּם֙ פָּנִ֔ים

will,he_lift_up? any,of_you(pl) faces

See how you translated the similar expression in [1:8](../01/08.md).

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion