Chapter
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Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Malachi 1:4
ESV If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’”
NIV Edom may say, 'Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.' But this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD.
NASB Though Edom says, 'We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins'; this is what the Lord of armies says: 'They may build, but I will tear down; and people will call them the territory of wickedness, and the people with whom the Lord is indignant forever.'
CSB Though Edom says, "We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins," the Lord of Armies says this: "They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called a wicked country and the people the Lord has cursed forever.
NLT Esau’s descendants in Edom may say, 'We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins.' But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies replies, 'They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.’
KJV Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.

What does Malachi 1:4 mean?

Israel has been attacked and defeated many times by their enemies, at this point in history. They are able to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple only with the permission of Babylon. When God declares His love for Israel in verse 2, the response of Israel is to say, "how?" As a poor, oppressed, and weak nation, many Jews would have rejected the claim that God was "loving" them.

God shows His love by contrasting it to the fate of Edom. That nation, judged by God for sin (Obadiah 1:10–14), was totally destroyed. Here, God specifically says that He will not allow Edom to rebuild. Their cities will remain empty and Edom will never be allowed to return. Israel may have been defeated and oppressed, but God had preserved them alive, allowed them to come back to their homes, and given them a way to rebuild. Despite the fact that these two nations were closely related (Malachi 1:2), God has done much more to protect the future of Israel than He has Edom.
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