Malachi 3

1 Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts.

»Glejte, poslal bom svojega poslanca in pripravil bo pot pred menoj in Gospod, ki ga iščete, bo nenadoma prišel k svojemu templju, celo poslanec zaveze, v katerem se razveseljujete. Glejte, prišel bo, « govori Gospod nad bojevniki.

2 And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? and who shall stand to see him? for he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller’s herb:

Toda kdo lahko prenese dan njegovega prihoda? In kdo bo obstal, ko se pojavi? Kajti podoben je prečiščevalčevemu ognju in podoben pralčevemu milu.

3 And he shall sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice.

Sédel bo kakor prečiščevalec in čistilec srebra in očistil bo Lévijeve sinove in jih presejal kakor zlato in srebro, da bodo lahko Gospodu darovali daritev v pravičnosti.

4 And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years.

Potem bo daritev Juda in Jeruzalema prijetna Gospodu, kakor v dneh iz davnine in kakor v prejšnjih letih.

5 And I will come to you in judgment, and will be a speedy witness against sorcerers, and adulterers, and false swearers, and them that oppress the hireling in his wages; the widows, and the fatherless: and oppress the stranger, and have not feared me, saith the Lord of hosts.

In prišel bom bliže k vam, da sodim in bom hitra priča zoper čarodeje in zoper zakonolomce in zoper krivoprisežnike in zoper tiste, ki zatirajo najemnika pri njegovih plačilih, vdovo in osirotelega in ki odvračajo tujca pred njegovo pravico, mene pa se ne bojijo, « govori Gospod nad bojevniki.

6 For I am the Lord, and I change not: and you the sons of Jacob are not consumed.

»Kajti jaz sem Gospod, jaz se ne spreminjam; zatorej vi, Jakobovi sinovi, niste uničeni.

7 For from the days of your fathers you have departed from my ordinances, and have not kept them: Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord of hosts. And you have said: Wherein shall we return?

Celo od dni svojih očetov ste odstopali od mojih odredb in se jih niste držali. Vrnite se k meni in jaz se bom vrnil k vam, « govori Gospod nad bojevniki. »Toda rekli ste: ›V čem se bomo vrnili?‹

8 Shall a man afflict God? for you afflict me. And you have said: Wherein do we afflict thee? in tithes and in firstfruits.

Ali bo človek oropal Boga? Vendar ste me oropali. Toda vi pravite: ›V čem smo te oropali?‹ V desetinah in daritvah.

9 And you are cursed with want, and you afflict me, even the whole nation of you.

Prekleti ste s prekletstvom, kajti oropali ste me, celó ves ta narod.

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and try me in this, saith the Lord: if I open not unto you the flood-gates of heaven, and pour you out a blessing even to abundance.

Prinesite vse desetine v skladišče, da bo lahko hrana v moji hiši in preizkusite me sedaj s tem, « govori Gospod nad bojevniki, »če vam ne bom odprl oken neba in vam izlil blagoslova, tako da ne bo dovolj prostora, da bi ga sprejeli.«

11 And I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer, and he shall not spoil the fruit of your land: neither shall the vine in the field be barren, saith the Lord of hosts.

Zaradi vas bom oštel požiralca in ne bo uničil sadov vaše zemlje niti vaša trta na polju svojega sadu ne bo odvrgla pred časom, « govori Gospod nad bojevniki.

12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightful land, saith the Lord of hosts.

»In vsi narodi vas bodo klicali blagoslovljeni, kajti vi boste krasna dežela, « govori Gospod nad bojevniki.

13 Your words have been unsufferable to me, saith the Lord.

»Vaše besede so bile arogantne zoper mene, « govori Gospod. »Vendar pravite: ›Kaj smo tako zelo govorili zoper tebe?‹

14 And you have said: What have we spoken against thee? You have said: He laboureth in vain that serveth God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked sorrowful before the Lord of hosts?

Rekli ste: ›Prazno je služiti Bogu in kakšna korist je to, da smo se držali njegove odredbe in da smo žalujoč hodili pred Gospodom nad bojevniki?

15 Wherefore now we call the proud people happy, for they that work wickedness are built up, and they have tempted God and are preserved.

In sedaj ponosnega imenujemo srečen. Da, tisti, ki počnejo zlobnost, so povzdignjeni; da, tisti, ki skušajo Boga, so celo osvobojeni.‹«

16 Then they that feared the Lord spoke every one with his neighbour: and the Lord gave ear, and heard it: and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that fear the Lord, and think on his name.

Potem so tisti, ki so se bali Gospoda, pogosto govorili drug drugemu. Gospod je prisluhnil in to slišal in knjiga spominov je bila napisana pred njim za tiste, ki so se bali Gospoda in tiste, ki mislijo na njegovo ime.

17 And they shall be my special possession, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day that I do judgment: and I will spare them, as a man spareth his son that serveth him.

»Oni bodo moji, « govori Gospod nad bojevniki, »na tisti dan, ko bom pripravil svoje dragocenosti; in jim prizanesel, kakor mož prizanese svojemu lastnemu sinu, ki mu služi.

18 And you shall return, and shall see the difference between the just and the wicked: and between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not.

Potem se boste vrnili in razločevali med pravičnim in zlobnim, med tistim, ki služi Bogu in tistim, ki mu ne služi.«