Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- BSB Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- NKJV Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
- NASB “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
- NLT “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.
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
God promises to send the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
Overview
This closing promise pledges an Elijah-like forerunner to ready the people before the day of judgment. Jesus identifies John the Baptist as the fulfillment of this Elijah who was to come (Matthew 11:14; 17:11-13). The verse links the close of the Old Testament to the opening of the New, where the promised forerunner prepares the way for Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Luke 1:17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
- Matt 17:10–13And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
- Mark 9:11–13And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?
- Matt 11:13–14For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
- Mal 3:1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Isa 40:3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
- Joel 2:31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
- John 1:21And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
- Mal 4:1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
- Rev 6:17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
- Luke 7:26–28But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
- Matt 27:47–49Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
- John 1:25And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
- Luke 9:30And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
- Acts 2:19–20And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 4:5 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.