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.
Tenei te unga atu nei e ahau taku karere, mana e whakapai te ara i mua i ahau, a kitea rawatia ake, kua tae te Ariki, e rapua nei e koutou, ki tona temepara; na ko te anahera o te kawenata, ko ta koutou e ngakau nui na, nana, tera ia ka tae atu, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano.
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;
A ko wai e u i te ra e tae mai ai ia? ko wai hoki e tu, ina puta mai ia? e rite ana hoki ia ki te ahi a te kaitahi para, ki te mea horoi a te kaihoroi:
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.
Ka noho ano ia, ka rite ki te kaitahi para, ki te kaiwhakapai hiriwa, a ka whakapaia e ia nga tama a Riwai, ka whakahemokia to ratou para, ano he koura, he hiriwa: kia tapaea ai e ratou he whakahere ki a Ihowa i runga i te tika.
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.
Ko reira te whakahere a Hura raua ko Hiruharama rekaina ai e Ihowa, ka rite ki nga ra o mua, ki nga tau onamata.
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.
Ka whakatata atu ano ahau ki a koutou ki te whakawa; ka hohoro ano ahau hei kaiwhakaatu i te he o nga kaimakutu, o te hunga puremu, o nga kaioati teka, o te hunga e tahae ana i nga utu o te kaimahi, i ta te pouaru, i ta te pani, e whakapeau ke an a i ta te manene, a kahore e wehi i ahau, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano.
6 “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Ko ahau hoki, ko Ihowa, kahore ahau e puta ke; na reira koutou, e nga tama a Hakopa, i kore ai e pau.
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?’
No nga ra o o koutou matua i whakarerea ai e koutou aku tikanga, kihai ano i puritia e koutou. Hoki mai ki ahau, a ka hoki atu ahau ki a koutou, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano. Heoi kei te mea na koutou, Kia pehea ta matou hoki atu?
8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.
E tahae ranei te tangata i ta te Atua? Heoi e tahae na koutou i taku. A e mea na koutou, He pehea ta matou tahae i tau? Ki nga whakatekau ra, me nga whakahere.
9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.
Kua kanga, kua kanga koutou: ko koutou hoki kei te tahae i taku, ara ko tenei iwi katoa.
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.
Maua katoatia mai te whakatekau ki roto ki te toa, kia whai kai ai toku whare, waiho hoki tenei hei whakamatautau moku, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano, me kahore e tuwhera i ahau nga matapihi o te rangi ki a koutou, a ka ringihia he manaaki ki a kouto u, a kia kore ra ano he takotoranga.
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.
A ka riria e ahau te kaiwhakapareho, he mea mo koutou, a e kore e huna e ia nga hua o to koutou oneone; e kore ano e marere noa nga hua o ta koutou waina i te mara, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano.
12 “All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the LORD of Armies.
A ki ta nga iwi katoa, he manaakitanga koutou: no te mea he whenua ahuareka koutou, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano.
13 “Your words have been harsh against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’
He kaha a koutou kupu ki ahau, e ai ta Ihowa. Heoi e ki na koutou, He aha ta matou korero mou?
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?
Kua ki na koutou, Kahore he hua o te mahi ki te Atua: he aha hoki te rawa o ta matou pupuri i ana mea, o ta matou haere taua i te aroaro o Ihowa o nga mano?
15 Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
Na inaianei ki ta matou, ko te hunga whakakake nga mea koa; ae ra, ko nga kaimahi i te kino te hunga e hanga ake; ae ra, e whakamatautau ana ratou i te Atua, a kua mawhiti.
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.
Na, ko te hunga i wehi i a Ihowa, kei te korerorero ratou ki tona hoa, ki tona hoa; a ka tahuri a Ihowa, ka whakarongo, na ka tuhituhia he pukapuka whakamahara ki tona aroaro mo te hunga i wehi ki a Ihowa, i whakaaro hoki ki tona ingoa.
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.
Maku hoki ratou, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano, i te ra e mahia ai e ahau he taonga motuhake; ka manawapa ano ahau ki a ratou, ka pera me te tangata e manawapa ana ki tana tama e mahi ana ki a ia.
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.
Ko reira ano koutou hoki ai, kite ai i te rereketanga o ta te tika, o ta te kino, o ta tera e mahi ana ki te Atua, o ta tera kahore e mahi ki a ia.
