Limitless Word
“Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the Lord, As in the days of old, As in former years.
Malachi 3:4 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
  • KJV Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
  • BSB Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.
  • NASB Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years.
  • NLT Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Once purified, the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will again be pleasing to God as in former days.

Overview

The result of God's refining is restored, acceptable worship, recalling an earlier age of faithfulness. What human corruption ruined, divine purification renews. This anticipates the worship made truly acceptable through Christ, whose perfect sacrifice cleanses His people and their offerings of praise and obedience.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • 2 Chr 7:1–3Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and Yahweh’s glory filled the house.
  • Zech 8:3Yahweh says: “I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the mountain of Yahweh of Armies, ‘The Holy Mountain.’”
  • Isa 56:7I will bring these to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
  • Ezek 43:26–27Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it.
  • Jer 30:18–20Yahweh says: “Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city shall be built on its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited in its own place.
  • Ezek 20:40–41For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel,” says the Lord Yahweh, “there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.
  • 1 Chr 16:1–3They brought in God’s ark, and set it in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.
  • 2 Chr 30:21–27The children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness. The Levites and the priests praised Yahweh day by day, singing with loud instruments to Yahweh.
  • 2 Chr 1:6Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before Yahweh, which was at the Tent of Meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it.
  • 1 Chr 29:20–22Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless Yahweh your God!” All the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves before Yahweh and the king.
  • Jer 2:2–3“Go, and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
  • 2 Chr 7:10–12On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
  • 1 Chr 15:26When God helped the Levites who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
  • 2 Chr 8:12–14Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on Yahweh’s altar, which he had built before the porch,
  • 2 Chr 29:31–36Then Hezekiah answered, “Now you have consecrated yourselves to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into Yahweh’s house.” The assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.
  • Ps 51:19Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
  • 1 Chr 21:26David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on Yahweh; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
  • 2 Chr 31:20–21Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he did that which was good, right, and faithful before Yahweh his God.
  • Jer 31:23–24Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: ‘Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.’
  • Isa 1:26–27I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called ‘The city of righteousness, a faithful town.’
  • Zech 14:20–21In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO YAHWEH”; and the pots in Yahweh’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Malachi videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Malachi 3:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MalachiMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The messenger who prepares the way, the sun of righteousness rising with healing, and the Lord suddenly coming to his temple set the stage for the gospel that opens with John and Jesus.

How Malachi 3:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.