Malachi

Malachi is the thirty-ninth book of the Bible and the last book of the Old Testament in the Christian arrangement. It is the twelfth of the minor prophets. The book is traditionally attributed to the prophet Malachi, though some have argued the name (which means "my messenger") is a title rather than a personal name. The book is dated to the mid-fifth century BC, perhaps during or shortly after the reforms of Nehemiah.

The book is structured as a series of six disputes between God and the people. Each follows the same pattern: God states a charge, the people protest with a question, God answers in detail. The charges include neglecting proper worship, offering blemished animals as sacrifices, marrying foreign wives and divorcing the wives of their youth, robbing God by withholding tithes, and speaking arrogantly about God's justice.

Through all of this, Malachi promises that a day is coming, a day of refining fire that will purify those who fear God and consume the proud. Before that day, God will send a messenger to prepare the way, a figure later identified by Jesus with John the Baptist.

The book, and the Christian Old Testament, ends with the promise of the prophet Elijah's return before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.