< 玛拉基书 3 >
1 万军之耶和华说:“我要差遣我的使者在我前面预备道路。你们所寻求的主必忽然进入他的殿;立约的使者,就是你们所仰慕的,快要来到。”
Behold, I send my angel, and he will prepare the way before my face. And presently the Sovereign, whom you seek, and the angel of testimony, whom you desire, will arrive at his temple. Behold, he approaches, says the Lord of hosts.
2 他来的日子,谁能当得起呢?他显现的时候,谁能立得住呢?因为他如炼金之人的火,如漂布之人的硷。
And who will be able to consider the day of his advent, and who will stand firm in order to see him? For he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller’s herb.
3 他必坐下如炼净银子的,必洁净利未人,熬炼他们像金银一样;他们就凭公义献供物给耶和华。
And he will sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he will purge the sons of Levi, and he will gather them like gold and like silver, and they will offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice.
4 那时,犹大和耶路撒冷所献的供物必蒙耶和华悦纳,仿佛古时之日、上古之年。
And the sacrifice of Judah and of Jerusalem will please the Lord, just as in the days of past generations, and as in the ancient years.
5 万军之耶和华说:“我必临近你们,施行审判。我必速速作见证,警戒行邪术的、犯奸淫的、起假誓的、亏负人之工价的、欺压寡妇孤儿的、屈枉寄居的,和不敬畏我的。”
And I will approach you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against evil-doers, and adulterers, and perjurers, and those who cheat the hired hand in his wages, the widows and the orphans, and who oppress the traveler, and who have not feared me, says the Lord of hosts.
6 “因我—耶和华是不改变的,所以你们雅各之子没有灭亡。
For I am the Lord, and I do not change. And you, the sons of Jacob, have not been consumed.
7 万军之耶和华说:从你们列祖的日子以来,你们常常偏离我的典章而不遵守。现在你们要转向我,我就转向你们。你们却问说:‘我们如何才是转向呢?’
For, from the days of your fathers, you have withdrawn from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. And you have said, “In what way, shall we return?”
8 人岂可夺取 神之物呢?你们竟夺取我的供物。你们却说:‘我们在何事上夺取你的供物呢?’就是你们在当纳的十分之一和当献的供物上。
If a man will afflict God, then you greatly afflict me. And you have said, “In what way, do we afflict you?” In tithes and in first-fruits.
9 因你们通国的人都夺取我的供物,咒诅就临到你们身上。
And you have been cursed with privation, and you greatly afflict me, even your entire people.
10 万军之耶和华说:你们要将当纳的十分之一全然送入仓库,使我家有粮,以此试试我,是否为你们敞开天上的窗户,倾福与你们,甚至无处可容。
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, and let there be food in my house. And test me about this, says the Lord, as to whether I will not open to you the floodgates of heaven, and pour out to you a blessing, all the way to abundance.
11 万军之耶和华说:我必为你们斥责蝗虫,不容它毁坏你们的土产。你们田间的葡萄树在未熟之先也不掉果子。
And I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer, and he will not corrupt the fruit of your land. Neither will the vine in the field be barren, says the Lord of hosts.
12 万军之耶和华说:万国必称你们为有福的,因你们的地必成为喜乐之地。”
And all nations will call you blessed. For you will be a desirable land, says the Lord of hosts.
13 耶和华说:“你们用话顶撞我,你们还说:‘我们用什么话顶撞了你呢?’
Your words have gathered strength over me, says the Lord.
14 你们说:‘事奉 神是徒然的,遵守 神所吩咐的,在万军之耶和华面前苦苦斋戒,有什么益处呢?
And you have said, “What have we spoken against you?” You have said, “He labors in vain who serves God,” and, “What advantage is it that we have kept his precepts, and that we have walked sorrowfully in the sight of the Lord of hosts?”
15 如今我们称狂傲的人为有福,并且行恶的人得建立;他们虽然试探 神,却得脱离灾难。’”
Now, therefore, we call the arrogant blessed, as if those who work impiety have been built up, and as if they have tempted God and been saved.
16 那时,敬畏耶和华的彼此谈论,耶和华侧耳而听,且有纪念册在他面前,记录那敬畏耶和华、思念他名的人。
Then those who fear the Lord spoke, each one with his neighbor. And the Lord paid attention and heeded. And a book of remembrance was written in his sight, for those who fear the Lord and for those who consider his name.
17 万军之耶和华说:“在我所定的日子,他们必属我,特特归我。我必怜恤他们,如同人怜恤服事自己的儿子。
And they will be my special possession, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I act. And I will spare them, just as a man spares his son who serves him.
18 那时你们必归回,将善人和恶人,事奉 神的和不事奉 神的,分别出来。”
And you shall be converted, and you will see the difference between the just and the impious, and between those who serve God and those who do not serve him.