Bible Strands
Malachi 4:3
Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD of Hosts addresses the faithful remnant in Israel, placing this declaration between the promise of healing for God-fearers and the command to recall Moses’ law.
The words — The text highlights וְ/עַסּוֹתֶ֣ם (ve./'a.so.Tem), literally "and you will tread down," and כַּפּ֣וֹת (ka.Pot), meaning "soles," describing the physical act of walking over the wicked who become ashes.
The thread — The motif of trampling the wicked appears in Job 40:12 and resurfaces in Romans 16:20, where believers are promised that God will crush Satan under their feet.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to acknowledge that divine judgment is certain and that the fate of the wicked is total destruction, demanding a posture of sober obedience rather than fear.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And 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.
Cross-references
- Job 40:12 Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.
- Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
- Micah 7:10 Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.
- Zechariah 10:5 They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
- Joshua 10:24 When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.
- Psalms 91:13 You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.
- Micah 5:8 Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them.
- Malachi 3:17 “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
- Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- Isaiah 25:10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile.