Malachi 3:14

3:13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? ordinance: Heb. observation mournfully: Heb. in black

KJV

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You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?

Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?

You have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?

3:15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. are set up: Heb. are built

What does Malachi 3:14 mean?

Malachi 3:14 is a verse in the book of Malachi, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include אָמַר (ʼâmar), שָׁוְא (shâvᵉʼ), עָבַד (ʻâbad). It connects to 2 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

have

said,אָמַרʼâmar/aw-mar'/H559to say (used with great latitude)

vainשָׁוְאshâvᵉʼ/shawv/H7723evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile); figuratively idolatry (as false, subjective), uselessness (as deceptive, objective; also adverbially, in vain)

serveעָבַדʻâbad/aw-bad'/H5647to work (in any sense); by implication, to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.

God:אֱלֹהִיםʼĕlôhîym/el-o-heem'/H430gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative

and

what

profitבֶּצַעbetsaʻ/beh'-tsah/H1215plunder; by extension, gain (usually unjust)

that

have

keptשָׁמַרshâmar/shaw-mar'/H8104properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.

his

ordinance,מִשְׁמֶרֶתmishmereth/mish-mer'-reth/H4931watch, i.e. the act (custody), or (concretely) the sentry, the post; objectively preservation, or (concretely) safe; figuratively observance, i.e. (abstractly) duty or (objectively) a usage or party

and

that

have

walkedהָלַךְhâlak/haw-lak'/H1980to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)

mournfullyקְדֹרַנִּיתqᵉdôrannîyth/ked-o-ran-neeth'/H6941blackish ones (i.e. in sackcloth); used adverbially, in mourning weeds

beforeפָּנִיםpânîym/paw-neem'/H6440the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)

the

LORDיְהֹוָהYᵉhôvâh/yeh-ho-vaw'/H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of God

hosts?צָבָאtsâbâʼ/tsaw-baw'/H6635a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially reg. organized forwar (an army); by implication, a campaign, literally or figuratively (specifically, hardship, worship)

ordinance:

Heb.

observation

mournfully:

Heb.

black

Commentary on Malachi 3:14

HENRY_FULL · Malachi 3:14

ible, but the promises of their restoration and deliverance for the glory of God, which we have here in the latter part of the book, are as comfortable; and as those were illustrated with many visions and similitudes, for the awakening of a holy fear, so are these, for the encouraging of a humble faith. God had assured them, in the foregoing chapter, that he would gather the house of Israel, even all of it, and would bring them out of their captivity, and return them to their own land; but there were two things that rendered this very unlikely:—I. That they were so dispersed among their enemies, so destitute of all helps and advantages which might favour or further their return, and so dispirited likewise in their own minds; upon all these accounts they are here, in vision, compared to a valley full of the dry bones of dead men, which should be brought together and raised to life. The vision of this we have ( ver. 1-10 ) and the explication of it, with its application to the present case, ver. 11-14 . II. That they were so divided among themselves, too much of the old enmity between Judah and Ephraim remaining even in their captivity. But, as to this, by a sign of two sticks made one in the hand of the prophet is foreshown the happy coalition that should be, at their return, between the two nations of Israel and Judah, ver. 15-22 . In this there was a type of the uniting of Jews and Gentiles, Jews and Samaritans, in Christ and his church. And so the prophet slides into a prediction of the kingdom of Christ, which should be set up in the world with God's tabernacle in it, and of the glories and graces of that kingdom, ver. 23-28 . The Vision of the Dry Bones. ( b. c. 586.) 1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Deuteronomy 11:30

Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

Malachi 3:11

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. destroy: Heb. corrupt

Topics

Blasphemy Infidelity Malachi Murmuring Skepticism Vanity

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Malachi 3:14.

1 Kings 2:3

And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: prosper: or, do wisely

1 Kings 9:6

But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

2 Samuel 20:3

And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. ward: Heb. an house of ward shut: Heb. bound living: Heb. in widowhood of life

2 Samuel 22:44

Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.

Joshua 22:3

Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.

Judges 10:10

And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

Judges 10:13

Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.

Judges 10:16

And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. strange: Heb. gods of strangers grieved: Heb. shortened

Frequently asked questions

What does Malachi 3:14 say?

Malachi 3:14 (King James Version) reads: "Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? ordinance: Heb. observation mournfully: Heb. in black"

Is Malachi 3:14 in the Old or New Testament?

Malachi 3:14 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Malachi.

Reflect

As you read Malachi 3:14, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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