Malachi 4 (ASV)

Chapter Text

4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall.

4:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, saith Jehovah of hosts.

4:4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.

4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.

4:6 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "cometh", "burneth", "furnace", "proud", "wickedness", "shall", and "stubble". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "cometh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local ASV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "behold" and "cometh" carries the first interpretive weight. In Malachi context, the local focus is covenant faithfulness, priestly corruption, divine justice, and the coming day of the LORD.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "behold" and "cometh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.