He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
- KJV And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
- BSB And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
- NKJV And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
- NLT His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
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
Elijah will turn the hearts of fathers and children to one another, averting the curse of God's judgment on the land.
Overview
The forerunner's ministry will bring reconciliation and repentance, restoring relationships and turning hearts back to God, lest the land fall under a curse. This final verse of the Old Testament ends with both warning and hope. The reconciling work it promises is fulfilled in the repentance John the Baptist preached and supremely in Christ, who reconciles sinners to God and one another.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 27
- Luke 1:16–17He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God.
- Isa 11:4but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
- Heb 10:26–31For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,
- Dan 9:11Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him.
- Matt 23:35–38that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
- Rev 22:20–21He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I come quickly.” Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.
- Isa 65:15You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
- Luke 1:76And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
- Rev 19:15Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
- Isa 61:2to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
- Deut 29:19–29and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry.”
- Isa 24:6Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
- Rev 22:3There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants serve him.
- Dan 9:26–27After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
- Zech 5:3Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.
- Zech 14:2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
- Zech 13:8It shall happen that in all the land,” says Yahweh, “two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.
- Isa 43:28Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel an insult.”
- Zech 14:12This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples who have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.
- Matt 22:7When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
- Mark 11:21Peter, remembering, said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.”
- Luke 19:41–44When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,
- Zech 11:6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says Yahweh; “but, behold, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”
- Mark 13:14–26But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,
- Luke 21:22–27For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
- Heb 6:8but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
- Matt 24:27–30For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
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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 4:6 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
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