Malachi 3

1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me! The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Behold, the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, is coming!” says the LORD of Armies.

Behold me! sending my messenger, who will prepare a way before me, — and, suddenly, shall come to his temple The Lord whom ye are seeking, even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye are delighting, Lo! he cometh! saith Yahweh of hosts.

2 “But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap;

But who may endure the day of his coming? And who is he that can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ alkali;

3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to the LORD offerings in righteousness.

Therefore will he sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and will purify the sons of Levi, and will smelt them, as gold and as silver; so shall they belong to Yahweh, offering a gift in righteousness.

4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the LORD as in the days of old and as in ancient years.

Then shall the gift of Judah and Jerusalem, be pleasant to Yahweh, —as in the days of age-past times, and as in the ancient years.

5 I will come near to you to judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and do not fear me,” says the LORD of Armies.

Therefore will I draw near unto you for judgment, and will become a swift witness against the mutterers of incantations, and against the adulterers, and against them that swear to a falsehood, —and against them who rob the hire of the hireling, the widow and the fatherless, and that drive away the sojourner, and do not revere me, saith Yahweh of hosts.

6 “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

Because, I, Yahweh, have not changed, therefore, ye, the sons of Jacob, have not been utterly consumed.

7 From the days of your fathers you have turned away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

From the days of your fathers, have ye departed from my statutes, and not observed them, Return ye unto me, that I may return unto you, saith Yahweh of hosts. And yet ye say, Wherein shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.

Will, a son of earth, defraud, God? Nevertheless, ye, have been defrauding me, and yet ye say, Wherein have we defrauded thee? In the tithe and the offering.

9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.

With a curse, have ye been cursing, and yet, me, have ye been defrauding, — the whole nation.

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says the LORD of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be enough room for.

Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, Yea, I pray you, put me to the proof hereby, saith Yahweh of hosts, whether I will not open to you the sluices of the heavens, and pour out for you blessing, until there be no room.

11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,” says the LORD of Armies.

Then will I rebuke, for you, the devourer that he spoil not, for you, the fruit of the ground, — neither shall the vine in the field, be barren to you, saith Yahweh of hosts.

12 “All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the LORD of Armies.

So shall all the nations, pronounce you happy, —for, ye, shall become, a land of delight, saith Yahweh of hosts.

13 “Your words have been harsh against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’

Stout against me, have been your words, saith Yahweh, —and yet ye say, What have we spoken, one to another, against thee?

14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God,’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of Armies?

Ye have said, Vain is it to serve God, —and, What profit when we have kept his charge, or when we have walked gloomily before Yahweh of hosts?

15 Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’

Now, therefore, we are pronouncing happy—the proud, —and, the doers of lawlessness have, even been built up, and, they who have put God to the proof, have even been delivered.

16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke one with another; and the LORD listened and heard, and a book of memory was written before him for those who feared the LORD and who honored his name.

Then, they who revered Yahweh, conversed, one with another, —and Yahweh hearkened, and heard, and there was written a book of remembrance before him, for them who revered Yahweh, and for such as thought of his Name.

17 They shall be mine,” says the LORD of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make. I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.

Therefore shall they be mine, saith Yahweh of hosts, in the day for which, I, am preparing treasure, —and I will deal tenderly with them, just as a man, dealeth tenderly, with his own son who is serving him.

18 Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who does not serve him.

So shall ye return, and see the difference, between the righteous and the lawless, —between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not.