Malachi 3:15

Malachi 3:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
• New International Version (NIV)But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'"
• New King James Version (NKJV)So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ”

Context of Malachi 3:15

13The Lord says, ‘You have spoken bad words against me. But you ask, “What have we said against you?” 14You have said, “We serve God, but that has not helped us at all. We are careful to do what he tells us to do. When we do wrong things, we have sad faces to show the Lord Almighty that we are sorry. But it is proud people that God blesses! Yes, it is the people who do evil things who become rich! God does not even punish people who like to test him. That is what we think.” ’ 16Then the people who respected the Lord talked to each other. The Lord listened to what they said. While the Lord watched, someone wrote names on a scroll. Those were the names of the people who worshipped the Lord and respected the Lord's name. They wrote down their names so that people would remember them. 17The Lord Almighty says, ‘These people will belong to me. One day I will come to judge everyone. At that time I will bring together all my own special people. I will not punish them. I will take care of them, like a father takes care of his son who serves him.

Malachi 3:15 word by word

וְעַתָּ֕ה אֲנַ֖חְנוּ מְאַשְּׁרִ֣ים זֵדִ֑ים גַּם־נִבְנוּ֙ עֹשֵׂ֣י רִשְׁעָ֔ה גַּ֧ם בָּחֲנ֛וּ אֱלֹהִ֖ים וַיִּמָּלֵֽטוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And now we callאָשַׁר'âshar 'âshêr · to blessH833
• the proudזֵדzêd · arrogantH2086
• yea, they that workעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: [do]H6213
• wickednessרִשְׁעָהrish‛âh · wickednessH7564
• are set upבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• temptבָּחַןbâchan · to testH974
• Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• are even deliveredמָלַטmâlaţ · to escapeH4422

Cross-references for Malachi 3:15

• Malachi 4:1‘The great day when I come to judge people will certainly happen. Punishment will come like the great fire of a hot oven. It will destroy all the proud people who do evil things. It will completely destroy them, like a fire that destroys dry grass. Nothing will remain.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
• Esther 5:10Haman did not show that he was angry at that time. He went home. Then Haman told his friends and Zeresh, his wife, to meet with him.
• Psalms 10:3Not only do wicked people boast because they get the things that they want. They also praise robbers, and they curse the Lord.
• Psalms 49:18While he lived, he was happy with his life. He thought, ‘People will praise me, because I am rich.’
• Psalms 73:12Take a good look, and see how wicked those people are! They have no troubles, and they become richer and richer.
• Daniel 4:30The king said, ‘Look how great Babylon is! It is the city that I have built to be my home as king. It shows that I am a great and powerful king!’
• Daniel 5:20But he became very proud and he boasted about his power. So God took away his kingdom. People did not respect him any longer as king.
• Acts 12:21Herod decided on which day he would meet with them. He put on his beautiful clothes and he sat in his special seat as king. Then he spoke his message to all the people.
• 1 Peter 5:5I want to say the same thing to you who are young men. You must respect the authority of the leaders. All of you who are believers must respect one another. Do not think that you are more important than other people. The Bible says: ‘God is against proud people. But he is kind to humble people.’
• Malachi 2:17The Lord has become tired as he listens to your words. You ask, ‘Why is he tired? What have we done to cause that?’ You say, ‘The Lord thinks that all people who do evil things are good! He does not punish them but he is happy with them.’ You also say, ‘God is not here to bring justice!’
• Job 12:6But robbers seem to live in peace. They cause God to be angry but they think that they are safe. They trust their own strength as their god.
• Job 21:7Why do wicked people continue to live for a long time? The older they become, the more power they have.
• Proverbs 12:12Wicked people want to take the things that other bad people have. But righteous people remain strong, with deep roots.
• Ecclesiastes 9:1I thought about all these things so that I could understand them. I realized that God controls what happens to people. That includes righteous people and wise people. God decides the things that they do. Nobody knows what will happen in their lives. Other people may love them, or they may hate them.
• Jeremiah 12:1Lord, when I complain to you, you always do what is right. But I must ask you about your justice. Why do wicked people have success in life? Why do people who cheat their friends live in comfort?
• Habakkuk 1:13But you are too holy to accept anything that is evil. You cannot agree with people who do wrong things. So why do you let these wicked people live? Why do you say nothing? They are killing people who are more righteous than themselves.

Commentaries on Malachi 3:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15And now we call the proud happy - Proud and insolent men are the only happy people, for they domineer everywhere, and none dares to resist them. They that work wickedness are set up - The humble and holy are depressed and miserable; the proud and wicked are in places of trust and profit. Too often it is so. They that tempt God are even delivered - Even those who despise God, and insult his justice and providence, are preserved in and from dangers; while…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15And now we call the proud happy (blessed) - This being so, they sum up the case against God. God had declared that all nations should “call them blessed” Malachi 3:12. if they would obey. They answer, using His words; And “now we (they lay stress on the word we,) pronounce blessed,” in fact, those whom God had pronounced cursed: Psalm 119:21. “Thou hast rebuked the proud, who are cursed.” Their characteristic, among other bad men, is of insolence Proverbs…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-18Verses 13-18 Among the Jews at this time, some plainly discovered themselves to be children of the wicked one. The yoke of Christ is easy. But those who work wickedness, tempt God by presumptuous sins. Judge of things as they will appear when the doom of these proud sinners comes to be executed. Those that feared the Lord, spake kindly, for preserving and promoting mutual love, when sin thus abounded. They spake one to another, in the language of those…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15Calling the arrogant blessed went against God’s justice, because it treated pride and wrongdoing as good (see Malachi 3:13).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1813-18. He notices the complaint of the Jews that it is of no profit to serve Jehovah, for that the ungodly proud are happy; and declares He will soon bring the day when it shall be known that He puts an everlasting distinction between the godly and the ungodly. words ... stout--Hebrew, "hard"; so "the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 15) [Henderson]. have we spoken--The Hebrew expresses at once their assiduity and habit…Read the comment

Topics related to Malachi 3:15

• Condescension of God
• Malachi
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Change
• Mournfully
• Prove
• Rob
• Malachi
• Set
• Vulgate

Commentaries on Malachi 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings