New International Version
Malachi 3:15
15But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ”
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.
- 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.’ ”
- New Living Translation (NLT)From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’”
Context of Malachi 3:15
13“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ 14“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ” 16Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 17“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.
Read all of Malachi 3Malachi 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“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
- Esther 5:10Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife,
- Psalms 10:3He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
- Psalms 49:18Though while they live they count themselves blessed— and people praise you when you prosper—
- Psalms 73:12This is what the wicked are like— always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
- Daniel 4:30he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Daniel 5:20But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.
- Acts 12:21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.
- 1 Peter 5:5In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
- Malachi 2:17You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
- Job 12:6The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure— those God has in his hand.
- Job 21:7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
- Proverbs 12:12The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures.
- Ecclesiastes 9:1So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.
- Jeremiah 12:1You are always righteous, Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Habakkuk 1:13Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those 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
In the dictionaries
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
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