Malachi 3:14
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
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?
15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
- KJV
- 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?
- WEB
- 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 the LORD of Armies?
- ASV
- Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked mournfully before Jehovah of hosts?
- DARBY
- Ye say, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we keep his charge, and that we walk mournfully before Jehovah of hosts?
- BLB
- You⁺ have said, ‘To serve God [is] futile! What gain [is] that we have kept His charge, that we have walked as mourners before the face of YHWH of Hosts?
- ÅB
- Dere har sagt: Fåfengt er det å tjene Gud, og hva vinning har det vært for oss at vi har aktet på hans bud, og at vi har gått i sørgeklær for Herrens, hærskarenes Guds skyld?
- OTB
- Dere har sagt: 'Det er forgjeves å tjene Gud, og hva gagn har det at vi har holdt hans forskrift og at vi har vandret sorgfullt for Herren, hærskarenes Gud?
- B1930
- I har sagt: Fåfengt er det å tjene Gud, og hvad vinning har det vært for oss at vi har aktet på hans bud, og at vi har gått i sørgeklær for Herrens, hærskarenes Guds skyld?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 58:3
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
Read in contextPsalms 73:8–13
They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
Read in contextZephaniah 1:12
And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
Read in contextJob 35:3
For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?
Read in contextZechariah 7:3–6
And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
Read in contextJob 34:9
For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.
Read in contextJoel 2:12
Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
Read in contextJob 22:17
Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
Read in context