You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.
Parallel translations
- WEB You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.
- KJV Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
- BSB You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.
- NKJV You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
- NASB You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the entire nation of you!
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
Because the whole nation robs God, they are under a curse.
Overview
Withholding from God brings the very covenant curses they were experiencing, affecting the entire nation. Their economic hardship is tied to their spiritual unfaithfulness. The verse underscores that disobedience has consequences, while preparing for the gracious invitation of the next verse to test God's overflowing generosity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 28:15–19But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you, and overtake you.
- Hag 1:6–11You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.”
- Mal 2:2If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.
- Hag 2:14–17Then Haggai answered, “‘So is this people, and so is this nation before me,’ says Yahweh; ‘and so is every work of their hands. That which they offer there is unclean.
- Josh 22:20Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”
- Isa 43:28Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel an insult.”
- Josh 7:12–13Therefore the children of Israel can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 3:9 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.