Malachi 3:3

Read in context

Malachi 3:1–5 · Berean Standard Bible

1 “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.

2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.

3 And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

4 Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Study Malachi 3:3

Read the commentary on Malachi 3

Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Psalms 66:10

For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver.

Proverbs 17:3

A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.

Proverbs 25:4

Remove the dross from the silver, and a vessel for a silversmith will come forth.

Isaiah 1:25

I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your impurities.

Isaiah 48:10

See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Jeremiah 6:28

All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.

Jeremiah 6:29

The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.

Jeremiah 6:30

They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”

Ezekiel 22:18

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.

Ezekiel 22:19

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 22:20

Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.

Ezekiel 22:21

Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city.

Ezekiel 22:22

As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”

Daniel 12:10

Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

Zechariah 13:9

This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

Luke 3:16

John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Ephesians 5:26

to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

Ephesians 5:27

and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

Titus 2:14

He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Hebrews 12:10

Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.

1 Peter 1:7

so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 4:12

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.

1 Peter 4:13

But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.

Revelation 3:18

I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Malachi 1:6

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

Malachi 1:7

By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You ?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.

Malachi 1:8

When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present the lame and sick ones, is it not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.

Malachi 1:9

“But ask now for God’s favor. Will He be gracious? Since this has come from your hands, will He show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.

Malachi 1:10

“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

Malachi 2:1

“And now this decree is for you, O priests:

Malachi 2:2

If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.

Malachi 2:3

Behold, I will rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the waste from your feasts, and you will be carried off with it.

Malachi 2:4

Then you will know that I have sent you this commandment so that My covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Malachi 2:5

“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, which I gave to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

Malachi 2:6

True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.

Malachi 2:7

For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.

Malachi 2:8

But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Isaiah 61:6

But you will be called the priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches.

Isaiah 66:19

I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.

Isaiah 66:20

And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”

Isaiah 66:21

“And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.

Jeremiah 33:18

nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

Jeremiah 33:19

And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 33:20

“This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time,

Jeremiah 33:21

then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne.

Jeremiah 33:22

As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

Ezekiel 44:15

But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 44:16

They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

Revelation 1:6

who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

Revelation 5:10

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

Malachi 1:11

For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Psalms 4:5

Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the LORD.

Psalms 50:14

Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.

Psalms 50:23

He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

Psalms 69:30

I will praise God’s name in song and exalt Him with thanksgiving.

Psalms 69:31

And this will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.

Psalms 107:21

Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

Psalms 107:22

Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.

Psalms 116:17

I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.

Psalms 141:1

I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to You.

Psalms 141:2

May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.

Hosea 14:2

Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.

John 4:23

But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.

John 4:24

God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Romans 12:1

Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Romans 15:16

to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:17

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

Philippians 4:18

I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

2 Timothy 4:6

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Hebrews 13:15

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

Hebrews 13:16

And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

1 Peter 2:5

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.