Malachi 3

1 "Look, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, look, he comes." says the LORD of hosts.

Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way for me. The Lord you are seeking will suddenly arrive at his Temple. The messenger of the agreement you say is so happy with you is coming, says the Lord Almighty.

2 But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is coming like a refiner's fire, and like launderer's soap.

Who can survive the day when he comes? Who can stand before him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing furnace that refines metal, or like the strong alkali that cleanses stains.

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.

He will sit down like a refiner who purifies silver; he will purify Levi's descendants and refine them like gold and silver so they can present pure offerings to the Lord.

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 the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as they did in the old days, in the former years.

5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and 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 hosts.

I will come and put you on trial. I am ready to be a witness against those who: practice witchcraft commit adultery tell lies give false evidence cheat employees oppress widows and orphans abuse foreigners and do not respect me, says the Lord Almighty.

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

For I am the Lord, I don't change, and you haven't stopped being descendants of Jacob.

7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'

From the time of your forefathers onward, you have turned away from my laws and not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty. But you ask, “How should we return?”

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

Should people defraud God? Yet you are defrauding me! But you ask, “How have we defrauded you?” In tithes and offerings.

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

You are under a curse, for you and the whole nation are defrauding me.

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 hosts, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for.

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse so that there will be food in my Temple. Put me to the test in this, says the Lord Almighty, and I will open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you won't have enough room for it.

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 hosts.

I will prevent locusts from destroying your crops, and your vineyards will not fail to bear fruit, says the Lord Almighty.

12 "All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," says the LORD of hosts.

All nations will call you blessed because you live in such a wonderful land, says the Lord Almighty.

13 "Your words have been stout against me," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against you?'

You have said hard things about me, says the Lord. But you say, “What have we said against you?”

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 hosts?

You have said, “What's the point of serving God? What benefit is there in keeping his commandments or going before the Lord Almighty with long faces?

15 Now we call the proud blessed; indeed, evildoers prosper. They even tempt God and escape.'

From now on we'll say that the proud are blessed. Evil people do well, and nothing happens when they dare God to punish them.”

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

Then those who truly respected the Lord spoke to each other, and the Lord heard what they said. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence of those who respected the Lord and paid attention to him.

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

They shall be mine, says the Lord Almighty, my prized possession on the day when I take action. I will treat them kindly, as a father treats an obedient son.

18 Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn't serve him.

Then you will once again be able to distinguish those who do right from those who do wrong, between those who serve him and those who don't.