The words translated Then once more in Revised Standard Version are literally “Then shall ye return” (King James Version, Revised Version). The Hebrew word for “return” is frequently used in combination with another verb to indicate repeated action and almost all modern versions take it that way here. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh tries to retain the picture of motion with “And you shall come to see,” but there is no real advantage in this. Either “Once again my people will…” (Good News Translation) or “Then everyone will once again…” (Contemporary English Version) is an appropriate model.

You shall distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him: This sentence essentially says the same thing twice in parallel ways. The righteous is identified with someone who serves God and the wicked with someone who does not serve him. Shall distinguish between is expressed as “will see the difference between” in Good News Translation and many other versions. Good News Translation has expanded this a little to say “will see the difference between what happens to.” In a setting like this where the last days are in view, such an expansion is valid, and it may be a useful model for some translators. This verse may thus be seen as a further answer to the question “Where is the God of justice?” in 2.17.

The terms righteous and wicked are quite general, and are translated simply as “good” and “bad” in Moffatt and New English Bible. The terms chosen in other languages should be opposite to each other in meaning, and should carry moral (rather than intellectual) overtones. The adjectives righteous and wicked are both singular in Hebrew, but in many languages it will be more natural to express the meaning with plural forms, such as “between righteous people and wicked people, that is, between those who serve God and those who do not.” The meaning of serves God in this setting is similar to that in verse 14, and in some languages will be rendered as “worship God.”

Contemporary English Version has put the parallel expressions together to say “those who obey me by doing right and those who reject me by doing wrong.” This may offer a model in languages that do not make much use of parallelism.

Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have turned the third person references to God in this verse into first person “me.” This makes the whole of 3.17–4.3 first person, and can be justified on translational grounds for those who wish to follow this example.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Malachi. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .