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, I will send my messenger, And he shall prepare the way before me; And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; And the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, Behold, he shall come, saith Jehovah 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 shall abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he shall be like the fire of the refiner, And like the soap of the fuller.

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.

And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, And he shall purify the sons of Levi, And shall refine them as gold and silver, That, being holy to Jehovah, they may bring an offering 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 offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasing to Jehovah, As in the days of old, And as in former 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.

And I will come near to you to judgment; And I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, and against adulterers, and against false swearers, And against those who defraud the hireling of his hire, And oppress the widow and the fatherless, And turn aside the stranger from his right, And fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.

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

For I am Jehovah; I change not; Therefore, ye sons of Jacob, are ye not 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 turned aside from my statutes, And have not kept them; Return to me, and I will return to you, Saith Jehovah of hosts. But 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.

Shall a man rob God, That ye have robbed me? But ye say, “Wherein have we robbed thee?” In tithes and offerings.

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

Ye are cursed with a curse, For ye have robbed me, even this 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 tithes into the storehouse, That there be food in my house; And try me now in this, Saith Jehovah of hosts, Whether I will not open to you the windows of heaven, And pour out upon you a blessing, until there is none left.

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.

And I will rebuke for you the devourer, And he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, Nor shall your vine be barren in the field, Saith Jehovah of hosts.

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

And all nations shall call you blessed; For ye shall be a delightful land, Saith Jehovah of hosts.

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

Your words have been bold against me, saith Jehovah; Yet ye say, “What have we spoken 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, “It is a vain thing to serve God”; And, “What profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, And that we have walked mournfully before Jehovah of hosts?

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

Therefore we call the proud happy; Yea, they that do wickedness are built up; Yea, they tempt God, and are 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 that feared Jehovah spake to one another, And Jehovah gave ear and heard; And a book of remembrance was written before him, For them that feared Jehovah, And that thought upon 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.

And they shall be to me, saith Jehovah of hosts, In the day which I appoint, as my own possession; And I will spare them, As a father spareth his own son that serveth 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.

Then shall ye return and see What is the difference between the righteous and the wicked, Between him who serveth God And him who serveth him not.