Malachi 4:6
New International Version
He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

New Living Translation
His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

English Standard Version
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Berean Standard Bible
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

King James Bible
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

New King James Version
And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

New American Standard Bible
He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.”

NASB 1995
“He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

NASB 1977
“And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction.”

Amplified Bible
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance], so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse [of complete destruction].”

Christian Standard Bible
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

American Standard Version
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For he shall turn the heart of fathers against the children and the heart of the children against their fathers, before I will come and I will strike the Earth with destruction.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
who shall turn again the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbour, lest I come and smite the earth grievously.

Contemporary English Version
He will lead children and parents to love each other more, so that when I come, I won't bring destruction to the land.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers: lest I come, and strike the earth with anathema.

English Revised Version
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He will change parents' attitudes toward their children and children's attitudes toward their parents. If not, I will come and reclaim my land by destroying you."

Good News Translation
He will bring fathers and children together again; otherwise I would have to come and destroy your country."

International Standard Version
and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I'll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, And the heart of the children to their fathers; Lest I come and smite the land with utter destruction.

Literal Standard Version
And he has turned back the heart of fathers to sons, | And the heart of sons to their fathers, | Before I come and have utterly struck the land!”

Majority Standard Bible
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

New American Bible
He will turn the heart of fathers to their sons, and the heart of sons to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the land with utter destruction.

NET Bible
He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment."

New Revised Standard Version
He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.

New Heart English Bible
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

World English Bible
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

Young's Literal Translation
And he hath turned back the heart of fathers to sons, And the heart of sons to their fathers, Before I come and have utterly smitten the land!

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Great Day of the LORD
5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. 6And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Cross References
Luke 1:17
And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Revelation 19:15
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Isaiah 11:4
but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

Isaiah 40:3
A voice of one calling: "Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.


Treasury of Scripture

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

turn.

Luke 1:16,17,76
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God…

lest.

Isaiah 61:2
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Daniel 9:26,27
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined…

Zechariah 11:6
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

and smite.

Deuteronomy 29:19-29
And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: …

Isaiah 24:6
Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

Isaiah 43:28
Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

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Malachi 4
1. God's judgment on the wicked;
2. and his blessing on the good.
4. He exhorts to the study of the law;
5. and tells of Elijah's coming and office.














(6) And he shall turn . . . to their fathers.--This does not refer to the settlement of family disputes, such as might have arisen from marriage with foreign wives. "The fathers are rather the ancestors of the Israelitish nation, the patriarchs, and generally the pious forefathers . . . The sons, or children, are the degenerate descendants of Malachi's own time and the succeeding ages."--Keil. "The hearts of the godly fathers and ungodly sons are estranged from one another. The bond of union--viz., the common love of God--is wanting. The fathers are ashamed of their children, and the children of their fathers."--Hengstenberg. (Comp. particularly Isaiah 29:22-24, and the paraphrastic citation of Malachi 4:6 in Luke 1:17.)

Curse.--Better, ban. (Comp. Zechariah 14:11.) As with the conclusion of Isaiah, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes, so here the Jew read in the synagogue the last verse but one over again after the last verse, to avoid concluding with words of ill omen, thus: "Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of JEHOVAH."

#define description=DESC

#define abbreviation=ABBR . . .

Verse 6. - He shall turn, etc.; i.e., taking the preposition, rendered "to," in the sense of "with," he shall convert one and all, fathers and children, young and old, unto the Lord. Or, in agreement with the versions, he shall bring back the Jews then living to the faith of their ancestors, who rejoiced to see the day of Christ (John 8:56); and then the patriarchs, who for their unbelief had disowned them, shall recognize them as true Israelites, true children of Abraham. Others explain - He shall unite the Jews who are our fathers in the faith to us Christians who are their children (see Luke 1:17, where the angel Gabriel quotes part of the passage, and applies it to John the Baptist). The heart. Here not the seat of the intellectual powers, but of love and confidence, which lead to union and concord. Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse; or, smite the land with the ban. This is an allusion to the ban threatened in the Law, which involved extermination (see Leviticus 27:29; Deuteronomy 13:16, 17; Deuteronomy 20:16, 17). So Elijah shall come and preach repentance, as the Baptist did at Christ's first coming; and unless the Jews listen to him and turn to Christ, they shall be destroyed, shall share in that eternal anathema which shall fall on the ungodly at the day of judgment.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And he will turn
וְהֵשִׁ֤יב (wə·hê·šîḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

the hearts
לֵב־ (lêḇ-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre

of the fathers
אָבוֹת֙ (’ā·ḇō·wṯ)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1: Father

to
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

their children,
בָּנִ֔ים (bā·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1121: A son

and the hearts
וְלֵ֥ב (wə·lêḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre

of the children
בָּנִ֖ים (bā·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1121: A son

to
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

their fathers.
אֲבוֹתָ֑ם (’ă·ḇō·w·ṯām)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1: Father

Otherwise,
פֶּן־ (pen-)
Conjunction
Strong's 6435: Removal, lest

I will come
אָב֕וֹא (’ā·ḇō·w)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

and strike
וְהִכֵּיתִ֥י (wə·hik·kê·ṯî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5221: To strike

the land
הָאָ֖רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

with a curse.”
חֵֽרֶם׃ (ḥê·rem)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2764: A net, a doomed object, extermination


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OT Prophets: Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the (Malachi Mal Ml)
Malachi 4:5
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