The Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 24:1

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~AD 34

1830 Edition

And it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written, he expounded them. And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi: Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

Influences

Malachi 3:1 (KJV)
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
John 13:3 (KJV)
Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

Changes

And it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written, he expounded them. And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi: —Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:, and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hHosts.

Simple English

Jesus told them to write down the words the Father had given to Malachi. He told them to write these words. After they wrote them down, he explained them. These are the words he told them: The Father said to Malachi: I will send my messenger. He will get things ready before I come. Then the Lord you are looking for will come to his temple. He is the messenger of the promise you are excited about. He will come, says the Lord of hosts.

Paraphrase

He told them to write down what the Father had given to Malachi, which he would now share with them. After it was written, he explained it to them. This is what he told them, quoting what the Father said to Malachi: 'I’m sending my messenger ahead to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you’re looking for will suddenly arrive at his temple—the messenger of the covenant you’ve been longing to see. He’s coming,' says the Lord of hosts.

Notes

24:1

Compare 1 Nephi 22:15, 2 Nephi 26:4,6 with Malachi 4:1, and compare 2 Nephi 25:13 with Malachi 4:2. While Malachi is generally dated to around 400 B.C., the writings attributed to Nephi are said to fall between 588–545 B.C., creating a chronological tension. The Book of Mormon further complicates this issue by indicating that the Nephites did not possess the words of Malachi until after the appearance of Christ. As recorded:

"Behold other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not" (3 Nephi 23:6).

"Write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them... And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi-Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, ..." (3 Nephi 24:1).

Quoting from Malachi 4:1: "For 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. But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall" (3 Nephi 25:1-2).

These passages suggest that the Nephites did not have access to Malachi’s writings prior to Christ delivering them.

"According to these verses the Nephites could not have had the words of Malachi until Christ came among them. LDS writer George Reynolds stated: 'As Malachi lived between two and three hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem, the Nephites knew nothing of the glorious things that the Father had revealed to him until Jesus repeated them.' However, if the Nephites didn't have the writings of Malachi until the coming of Christ, how did Nephi quote them in 545 B.C.?" -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 21.