Malachi Propheta 3

1 Ecce ego mitto angelum meum, et præparabit viam ante faciem meam. Et statim veniet ad templum suum Dominator, quem vos quæritis, et angelus testamenti, quem vos vultis. Ecce venit, dicit Dominus exercituum:

‘I am about to send my messenger and he will clear a path before me: And the Lord, who you are seeking, will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant who you long for is already coming, says the Lord of hosts.

2 et quis poterit cogitare diem adventus eius, et quis stabit ad videndum eum? Ipse enim quasi ignis conflans, et quasi herba fullonum:

But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand firm when he appears? He is like a refiner’s fire, and like a launderer’s soap,

3 et sedebit conflans, et emundans argentum, et purgabit filios Levi, et colabit eos quasi aurum, et quasi argentum, et erunt Domino offerentes sacrificia in iustitia.

and he will sit as a refiner and purifier. He will purify the descendants of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, until they are fit to bring offerings to the Lord.

4 Et placebit Domino sacrificium Iuda, et Ierusalem sicut dies sæculi, et sicut anni antiqui.

Then will the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

5 Et accedam ad vos in iudicio, et ero testis velox maleficis, et adulteris, et periuris, et qui calumniantur mercedem mercenarii, viduas, et pupillos, et opprimunt peregrinum, nec timuerunt me, dicit Dominus exercituum.

‘I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against the sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, those who cheat workers, or widows, or orphans, deny justice to immigrants, and do not fear me,’ says the Lord of hosts.

6 Ego enim Dominus, et non mutor: et vos filii Iacob non estis consumpti.

‘For I, the Lord, do not change; and you have not ceased to be descendants of Jacob.’

7 A diebus enim patrum vestrorum recessistis a legitimis meis, et non custodistis. Revertimini ad me, et revertar ad vos, dicit Dominus exercituum. Et dixistis: In quo revertemur?

‘From the days of your ancestors, you have turned aside from my statutes, and you have not kept them. Turn to me and I will turn to you,’ says the Lord. ‘You say, “How should we turn?”

8 Si affliget homo Deum, quia vos configitis me? Et dixistis: In quo configimus te? In decimis, et in primitiis.

Can a human rob God? Yet you robbed me. You ask, “How have we robbed you?” In tithes and gifts!

9 Et in penuria vos maledicti estis, et me vos configitis gens tota.

You – your entire nation – are all cursed, because you rob me.

10 Inferte omnem decimam in horreum, et sit cibus in domo mea, et probate me super hoc, dicit Dominus: si non aperuero vobis cataractas cæli, et effudero vobis benedictionem usque ad abundantiam,

‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there is food in my house. Test me in this way. See if I will not open to you the windows of the sky, and pour you out a blessing, until there is more than enough.

11 et increpabo pro vobis devorantem, et non corrumpet fructum terræ vestræ: nec erit sterilis vinea in agro, dicit Dominus exercituum.

I will rebuke for your sakes the devouring locust and he will not destroy your crops, nor will the vine fail to ripen its fruit in the field, says the Lord of hosts,

12 Et beatos vos dicent omnes Gentes: eritis enim vos terra desiderabilis, dicit Dominus exercituum.

and all nations will call you happy, for you will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord of hosts.

13 Invaluerunt super me verba vestra, dicit Dominus.

‘You have said terrible things about me,’ says the Lord. ‘You ask, “What have we said about you?”

14 Et dixistis: Quid locuti sumus contra te? Dixistis: Vanus est, qui servit Deo: et quod emolumentum quia custodivimus præcepta eius, et quia ambulavimus tristes coram Domino exercituum?

You have said, “It is useless to serve God, and what do we gain from the Lord of hosts by keeping his commands, and walking mournfully in funeral garb before him?

15 ergo nunc beatos dicimus arrogantes: siquidem ædificati sunt facientes impietatem, et tentaverunt Deum, et salvi facti sunt.

So now we call the proud happy, evildoers thrive: they dare God and escape unharmed.”’

16 Tunc locuti sunt timentes Dominum, unusquisque cum proximo suo: Et attendit Dominus, et audivit: et scriptus est liber monumenti coram eo timentibus Dominum, et cogitantibus nomen eius.

Such things those who revered the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice, and a record was written before him of those who revered the Lord and those who keep in mind his name.

17 Et erunt mihi, ait Dominus exercituum, in die, qua ego facio, in peculium: et parcam eis, sicut parcit vir filio suo servienti sibi.

‘They will be mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘my special possession on that day that I am preparing. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

18 Et convertemini, et videbitis quid sit inter iustum, et impium: et inter servientem Deo, et non servientem ei.

Once again my people will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the person who serves God and the person who does not.’