Malachi 3:13–4:2

The Lord’s Promise of Mercy

¹³The Lord says, “You have said terrible things about me.

“But you ask, ‘What have we said about you?’

¹⁴“You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. It did no good to obey his laws and to show the Lord All-Powerful that we were sorry for what we did. ¹⁵So we say that proud people are happy. Evil people succeed. They challenge God and get away with it.’ ”

¹⁶Then those who honored the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened and heard them. The names of those who honored the Lord and respected him were written in his presence in a book to be remembered.

¹⁷The Lord All-Powerful says, “They belong to me; on that day they will be my very own. As a parent shows mercy to his child who serves him, I will show mercy to my people. ¹⁸You will again see the difference between good and evil people, between those who serve God and those who don’t.

The Day of the Lord’s Judging

4“There is a day coming that will burn like a hot furnace, and all the proud and evil people will be like straw. On that day they will be completely burned up so that not a root or branch will be left,” says the Lord All-Powerful. ²“But for you who honor me, goodness will shine on you like the sun, with healing in its rays. You will jump around, like well-fed calves.