Author
Malachi
Prophet
Written
c. 430 BC
Chapters
4
Audience
The post-exilic Jewish community in Jerusalem
God declares His covenant love for Israel over Edom
Chapter 1Read in Bible
God rebukes the priests for offering defiled and blemished sacrifices
Chapter 1 → Chapter 6Read in Bible
God pronounces judgment on the priests for corrupting the covenant of Levi
Chapter 2 → Chapter 1Read in Bible
God condemns the people for faithlessness in marriage and divorce
Chapter 2 → Chapter 10Read in Bible
God announces the coming of His messenger to purify and bring justice
Chapter 2 → Chapter 17Read in Bible
God calls the people to repent of robbing Him through withheld tithes and offerings
Chapter 3 → Chapter 6Read in Bible
God distinguishes the righteous from the wicked and promises vindication on the day of the Lord
Chapter 3 → Chapter 13Read in Bible
God commands obedience to the Law of Moses and promises the return of Elijah before the great day of the Lord
Chapter 4Read in Bible
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."
Malachi 3:10"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."
Malachi 3:1"But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves."
Malachi 4:2"See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction."
Malachi 4:5–6Malachi addresses a post-exilic Israelite community that has grown spiritually apathetic, rebuking corrupt priests and unfaithful people for dishonoring God through defiled offerings, divorce, injustice, and withheld tithes. Through a series of disputations, God calls the nation to renewed covenant faithfulness and warns of coming judgment. The book closes with a messianic promise of a forerunner—identified in the New Testament with John the Baptist—and the coming of the Lord.