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.
- KJV Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
- BSB Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome 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 1:17He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”
- Matt 17:10–13His disciples asked him, saying, “Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
- Mark 9:11–13They asked him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
- Matt 11:13–14For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
- Mal 3:1“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Isa 40:3The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
- Joel 2:31The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- John 1:21They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”
- Mal 4:1“For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
- Rev 6:17for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
- Luke 7:26–28But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
- Matt 27:47–49Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
- John 1:25They asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”
- Luke 9:30Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah,
- Acts 2:19–20I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.