Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

◄ Malachi 3:6 ►

Parallel Verses

New International Version
"I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

English Standard Version
“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

New American Standard Bible
"For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

King James Bible
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed."

International Standard Version
"Because I the LORD don't change; therefore you children of Jacob aren't destroyed."

American Standard Version
For I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For I am the Lord, and I change not: and you the sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Darby Bible Translation
For I Jehovah change not, and ye, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

Young's Literal Translation
For I am Jehovah, I have not changed, And ye, the sons of Jacob, Ye have not been consumed.

Cross References

James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no ficklenss, neither shadow of turning.

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Psalm 102:27
But you are the same, and your years shall have no end.

Lamentations 3:22
It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

Daniel 6:26
I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even to the end.

Habakkuk 1:12
Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, you have established them for correction.

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Commentaries

Matthew Henry's Commentary

3:1-6 The first words of this chapter seem an answer to the scoffers of those days. Here is a prophecy of the appearing of John the Baptist. He is Christ's harbinger. He shall prepare the way before him, by calling men to repentance. The Messiah had been long called, He that should come, and now shortly he will come. He is the Messenger of the covenant. Those who seek Jesus, shall find pleasure in him, often when not looked for. The Lord Jesus, prepares the sinner's heart to be his temple, by the ministry of his word and the convictions of his Spirit, and he enters it as the Messenger of peace and consolation. No hypocrite or formalist can endure his doctrine, or stand before his tribunal. Christ came to distinguish men, to separate between the precious and the vile. He shall sit as a Refiner. Christ, by his gospel, shall purify and reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it, shall regenerate and cleanse souls. He will take away the dross found in them. He will separate their corruptions, which render their faculties worthless and useless. The believer needs not fear the fiery trial of afflictions and temptations, by which the Saviour refines his gold. He will take care it is not more intense or longer than is needful for his good; and this trial will end far otherwise than that of the wicked. Christ will, by interceding for them, make them accepted. Where no fear of God is, no good is to be expected. Evil pursues sinners. God is unchangeable. And though the sentence against evil works be not executed speedily, yet it will be executed; the Lord is as much an enemy to sin as ever. We may all apply this to ourselves. Because we have to do with a God that changes not, therefore it is that we are not consumed; because his compassions fail not.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. the Lord—Jehovah: a name implying His immutable faithfulness in fulfilling His promises: the covenant name of God to the Jews (Ex 6:3), called here "the sons of Jacob," in reference to God's covenant with that patriarch.

I change not—Ye are mistaken in inferring that, because I have not yet executed judgment on the wicked, I am changed from what I once was, namely, a God of judgment.

therefore ye … are not consumed—Ye yourselves being "not consumed," as ye have long ago deserved, are a signal proof of My unchangeableness. Ro 11:29: compare the whole chapter, in which God's mercy in store for Israel is made wholly to flow from God's unchanging faithfulness to His own covenant of love. So here, as is implied by the phrase "sons of Jacob" (Ge 28:13; 35:12). They are spared because I am Jehovah, and they sons of Jacob; while I spare them, I will also punish them; and while I punish them, I will not wholly consume them. The unchangeableness of God is the sheet-anchor of the Church. The perseverance of the saints is guaranteed, not by their unchangeable love to God, but by His unchangeable love to them, and His eternal purpose and promise in Christ Jesus [Moore]. He upbraids their ingratitude that they turn His very long-suffering (La 3:22) into a ground for skeptical denial of His coming as a Judge at all (Ps 50:1, 3, 4, 21; Ec 8:11, 12; Isa 57:11; Ro 2:4-10).