MAL 3:1 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=vital (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) “Listen, I’m about to send my messenger and he’ll prepare the path ahead of me. Then the master who you’re all looking for will suddenly come to his temple, yes, the messenger who you are all happy about—the party to the agreement—he’ll come,” says army-commander Yahweh.[ref]

Key: khaki:verbs, 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 Ἰδοὺ ἐξαποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου, καὶ ἐπιβλέψεται ὁδὸν πρὸ προσώπου μου, καὶ ἐξαίφνης ἥξει εἰς τὸν ναὸν ἑαυτοῦ Κύριος, ὃν ὑμεῖς ζητεῖτε, καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος τῆς διαθήκης, ὃν ὑμεῖς θέλετε· ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται, λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ,
(Idou exapostellō ton angelon mou, kai epiblepsetai hodon pro prosōpou mou, kai exaifnaʸs haʸxei eis ton naon heautou Kurios, hon humeis zaʸteite, kai ho angelos taʸs diathaʸkaʸs, hon humeis thelete; idou erⱪetai, legei Kurios pantokratōr, )

BrTr Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in: behold, he is coming, saith the Lord Almighty.

ULT “Behold me, sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way to my face. Then suddenly he will come to his temple, the Lord whom you are seeking. And the messenger of the covenant, whom you are desiring, behold, he is coming,” says Yahweh of Armies.

UST Yahweh, who commands the heavenly armies, says, “Pay attention! I am about to send my messenger. He will get things ready for me to come. Then I, the Lord you are looking for, will suddenly come to my temple. You want someone to bring you a message about my agreement with you, and I am going to send someone to do that.

3:1 Cited in Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, and Luke 7:27

OEB ‘I am about to send my messenger and he will clear a path before me: And the Lord, who you are seeking, will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant who you long for is already coming, says the Lord of hosts.

CSB “See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in—see, he is coming,” says the LORD of Armies.

NLT “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

NIV “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.

CEV I, the LORD All-Powerful, will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then suddenly the Lord you are looking for will appear in his temple. The messenger you desire is coming with my promise, and he is on his way.

ESV “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

NASB “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.

LSB “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says Yahweh of hosts.

WEBBE “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me! The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Behold, the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, is coming!” says the LORD of Armies.

WMBB “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me! The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Behold, the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, is coming!” says the LORD of Hosts.

MSG The Master You’ve Been Looking For “Look! I’m sending my messenger on ahead to clear the way for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Leader you’ve been looking for will enter his Temple—yes, the Messenger of the Covenant, the one you’ve been waiting for. Look! He’s on his way!” A Message from the mouth of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

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

LSV “Behold, I am sending My messenger,
And he has prepared a way before Me,
And suddenly the Lord whom you are seeking comes into His temple,
Even the Messenger of the Covenant,
Whom you are desiring,
Behold, He is coming,” said YHWH of Hosts.

FBV Look! I am sending my messenger,[fn] and he will prepare the way for me. The Lord you are seeking[fn] will suddenly arrive at his Temple. The messenger of the agreement you say is so happy with you[fn] is coming, says the Lord Almighty.

3:1 Malachi means “my messenger.”

3:1 In the light of the previous verses, the idea that God is being sought is surely ironic.

3:1 “You say is so happy with you”: referring back to 2:17.

T4T The Commander of the armies of angels says this: “Listen! I am about to send my messenger who will prepare the people to receive me when I come. You claim that [IRO] you are wanting to see me, and I will suddenly come to my temple. The messenger who will tell you about a new agreement, the one whom you are eagerly [SAR] awaiting, is certainly going to come to you.”

LEB “Look! I am going to send my messenger,[fn] and he will prepare[fn] the way _⌊before me_⌋.[fn] And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come,” says Yahweh of hosts.

3:1 Or “my angel”

3:1 Or “clear”

3:1 Literally “before my face”

NRSV See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

NKJV “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts.

NAB Now I am sending my messenger— he will prepare the way before me; And the lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple; The messenger of the covenant whom you desire— see, he is coming! says the d LORD d* of hosts.

BBE See, I am sending my servant, and he will make ready the way before me; and the Lord, whom you are looking for, will suddenly come to his Temple; and the angel of the agreement, in whom you have delight, see, he is coming, says the Lord of armies.

Moff Lo, I send my Envoy to clear the way for me; and the Lord for whom you long will come suddenly to his temple [[that Envoy of the Compact whom you desire; he is coming--the Lord of hosts declares]].

JPS Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall clear the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, he cometh, saith the LORD of hosts.

ASV Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.

DRA Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts.

YLT Lo, I am sending My messenger, And he hath prepared a way before Me, And suddenly come in unto his temple Doth the Lord whom ye are seeking, Even the messenger of the covenant, Whom ye are desiring, Lo, he is coming, said Jehovah of Hosts.

Drby Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the Angel of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.

RV Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, he cometh, saith the LORD of hosts.
(Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye/you_all seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye/you_all delight in, behold, he cometh/comes, saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies. )

SLT Behold me sending my messenger, and he looked upon the way before my face: and suddenly Jehovah whom ye seek shall come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in: behold him coming, said Jehovah of armies.

Wbstr Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he will come, saith the LORD of hosts.

KJB-1769 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
(Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye/you_all seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye/you_all delight in: behold, he shall come, saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies. )

KJB-1611 ¶ Beholde, I will send my messenger, and he shal prepare the way before mee: and the LORD whom ye seeke, shall suddenly come to his Temple: euen ye messenger of the Couenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
(¶ Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD whom ye/you_all seek, shall suddenly come to his Temple: even ye/you_all messenger of the Covenant, whom ye/you_all delight in: behold, he shall come, saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies.)

Bshps Beholde, I wyll sende my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the lord whom ye seeke, shal speedyly come to his temple, and the messenger of the couenaunt whom ye desire, beholde he commeth, saith the Lorde of hoastes.
(Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the lord whom ye/you_all seek, shall speedily come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom ye/you_all desire, behold he cometh/comes, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies.)

Gnva Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye seeke, shall speedely come to his Temple: euen the messenger of the couenant whom ye desire: beholde, he shall come, sayth the Lord of hostes.
(Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye/you_all seek, shall speedely come to his Temple: even the messenger of the covenant whom ye/you_all desire: behold, he shall come, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies. )

Cvdl Beholde, I wil sende my messaunger, which shal prepare the waye before me: and the LORDE whom ye wolde haue, shal soone come to his temple, yee euen the messaunger of the couenaunt whom ye longe for. Beholde, he commeth, sayeth the LORDE of hoostes.
(Behold, I will send my messaunger, which shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD whom ye/you_all would have, shall soon come to his temple, ye/you_all even the messaunger of the covenant whom ye/you_all long for. Behold, he cometh/comes, saith/says the LORD of hosts/armies.)

Wycl Lo! Y sende myn aungel, and he schal make redi weie bifor my face; and anoon the lordshipere, whom ye seken, schal come to his hooli temple, and the aungel of testament, whom ye wolen. Lo! he cometh, seith the Lord of oostis;
(Lo! I send mine angel, and he shall make ready way before my face; and anon/immediately the lordshipere, whom ye/you_all seken, shall come to his holy temple, and the angel of testament, whom ye/you_all woollen. Lo! he cometh/comes, saith/says the Lord of hosts/armies;)

Luth Siehe, ich will meinen Engel senden, der vor mir her den Weg bereiten soll. Und bald wird kommen zu seinem Tempel der HErr, den ihr suchet, und der Engel des Bundes, des ihr begehret. Siehe, er kommt! spricht der HErr Zebaoth.
(See/Look, I will my angel send, the/of_the before/in_front_of to_me her the way/path/road prepare should. And soon becomes coming to/for his temple the/of_the LORD, the you(pl)/their/her seeks, and the/of_the angel the federation/agreements, the you(pl)/their/her desired. See/Look, he comes! speaks/says the/of_the LORD Tsevaot_(of_armies).)

ClVg Ecce ego mitto angelum meum, et præparabit viam ante faciem meam: et statim veniet ad templum suum Dominator quem vos quæritis, et angelus testamenti quem vos vultis. Ecce venit, dicit Dominus exercituum.
(Behold I I_send a_messenger/angel mine, and will_prepare way/road before face of_mine: and immediately will_come to the_temple/sanctuary his_own Dominator which you(pl) you_are_looking_for, and messenger/angel testament which you(pl) do_you_want. Behold he_came, he_says Master hosts/soldiers. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:17–3:5: The LORD revealed that he would come to judge and purify his people

2:17 is a transitional verse. In 2:10–16 Malachi and the LORD listed ways that the priests and people had been unfaithful. In 2:17, the focus becomes the LORD’s response to this unfaithfulness. So it seems best to consider 2:17 as the beginning of a new section, rather than as the end of the preceding section.

Notice also that this verse contains Malachi’s typical structure for beginning a new section:

a statement by the LORD,
a question challenging the LORD’s statement,
and then the development of the theme of the section.

See note 6 in “Literary structure and recurring features in Malachi” in the Introduction.

3:1a

“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me.

“Listen. I send my messenger who will prepare the way before I come.
“Be warned. I will send my messenger and he will get things ready for my coming.

Behold: The Hebrew word hinneh which the BSB translates as Behold has the same function here as in 2:3a. It directs the reader’s attention to the statement that follows. This particle recurs later in this verse in 3:1e where it is translated as “see,” again highlighting an important statement.

I will send My messenger: This foretells an event which had not yet happened. See also Isaiah 40:3; Mark 1:2.

My messenger: The prophetic reference here is to John the Baptist. However you should not make this information explicit in your translation. See also Malachi 4:5, where the messenger is identified figuratively with Elijah the prophet.

who will prepare the way before Me: The purpose of the messenger’s coming was to get people ready for the arrival of the Lord. The messenger would tell them how to live in a way that would please the Lord.

The Hebrew expression which the BSB translates as prepare the way before Me is used here in a figurative way.“Clearing the way before Yahweh’s epiphany means removing the “obstacles” of self-interest, spiritual lethargy, and evil behavior embedded in the people of God.” Hill (1998), page 267. In those times the roads were rough. It was sometimes necessary for messengers to go ahead of a king and prepare the road so that it would be possible for him to pass. In some languages this figure of speech may not be clear. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to make the meaning more explicit. For example:

to prepare people for my coming like men prepare the road for a king

before Me: That is, before the Lord.

3:1b

Then the Lord whom you seek

Then the Lord, the one you^(plur) are looking/waiting for,
Then your^(plur) Lord, about whom you^(plur) say, ‘Where is he?,’

the Lord whom you seek: This is a reference to the coming Messiah—Jesus Christ.Alden (1985), Merrill (1994), page 431.

the Lord: The Hebrew word here is ʾadon, not yhwh. So make sure you use your normal translation of Lord here, not your term for Yahweh.

3:1c

will suddenly come to His temple—

will appear suddenly in his temple.

3:1d

the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—

The messenger whom you^(plur) yearn/long to see, will proclaim my covenant.
This messenger for whom you^(plur) look eagerly will come and announce my covenant with you^(plur).

the Messenger of the covenant: It is important to decide to whom the Messenger of the covenant here refers: There are two possible interpretations:

The Messenger of the covenant is the Lord in 3:1b. That is, it refers to the Messiah—Jesus Christ.
The Messenger of the covenant is the same person referred to as “my messenger” in 3:1a, and so refers to John the Baptist.Merrill (1994), pages 431–433.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

The parallelism between 3:1b–c and 3:1d–e supports this interpretation. The phrase the Messenger of the covenant is a title or description of this person. See the general comment about poetic parallelisms below.Also in support of this interpretation is the fact that elsewhere in Scripture, “the angel of the LORD” is the LORD himself in human form. The Hebrew word malaḵ may mean either “messenger” or “angel.” NJPS translates “the angel of the covenant” and a number of French translations also translate using the word for “angel.” In Exodus 3:2, the LORD speaks to Moses as the “angel of the LORD,” and affirms again that he has a special relationship with his people and that he will deliver them. Possibly Malachi may have in mind Exodus 3:2, and other references to the angel of the LORD, when he refers to the LORD as the messenger/angel of the covenant. Keil and Delitzsch (1950), page 458; Baldwin (1972), page 243.

Messenger of the covenant: This person would proclaim the message about the covenant.

Messenger: The Hebrew word which the BSB translates as Messenger is the same word which occurred in 3:1a. It can refer to angels as well as human messengers. If it is possible to keep this ambiguity between “human messenger” and “angel” in your translation, do so. If that is not possible, you may wish to include a footnote saying that the words for “messenger” and “angel” are the same word in the original Hebrew text.

If you use a term for “messenger,” be careful not to use a word which would imply someone of low status, such as an errand boy or servant.

the covenant: Malachi was still referring primarily to the original covenantWhich covenant is referred to here? Unfortunately the commentators say little about this—Redditt doesn’t discuss it at all. Merrill seems to accept, without actually saying so, that it is the new covenant in view (and therefore presumably would agree with the GNT). Glazier-McDonald (1987 ⁽¹⁾) again doesn’t actually discuss it, but her description of the messenger as the “covenant-enforcer” seems to align with Keil and Delitzsch (1950). They alone discuss the question and see it as God’s covenant with Israel at Sinai. which the LORD made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. Scholars believe this for two reasons:

General Comments on 3:1b–d

He had already talked about that covenant in chapter 1 and did not indicate here that he was talking about a different covenant.
His hearers/readers would have automatically thought of this covenant. It was the only covenant of which they were aware.

In some languages it may be more natural to combine 3:1b, 3:1c and 3:1d. For example:

Suddenly the Lord, whom you longingly expect, will come to his temple. It is he who is the messenger of the covenant.

The poetic parallelisms highlight this verse as an important climax in this section:

the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—

the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,

3:1e

see, He is coming,”

Listen/Be-aware^(plur), he is coming.”

see: See the note on 3:1a.

3:1f

says the LORD of Hosts.

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

says the LORD of Hosts: The speech clause, says the LORD of Hosts (or “says the LORD”), occurs many times throughout the text. This emphasizes the fact that this is a direct message from the LORD. See note 1 in “Literary structure and recurring features in Malachi” in the Introduction.

the LORD of Hosts: This special title for the LORD occurs twenty-four times in Malachi. See the discussion of this term in the Key biblical terms in the book of Malachi section in the Introduction.

Parallel MAL 3:1