Malachi 4:1-6
The Lord warns that a day is coming when all proud and wicked people will be destroyed like stubble. However, those who fear God's name will experience healing and growth as the Sun of righteousness rises. The chapter concludes with a promise to send Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
This chapter contains a reference to the return of Elijah, which is seen as an important event in Christian eschatology and has been interpreted differently across various Christian traditions.
1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
4Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6And 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. APOCRYPHA.