Malachi 3

1 “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall clear out the way before me: and suddenly will come to his temple the Lord, whom ye seek; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire for, behold, he is coming, saith the Lord of hosts.

2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.

But who can sustain the day of his coming? and who can stand when he appeareth? for he is like the fire of the melter, and like the lye of the washers:

3 And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

And he will sit as a melter and purifier of silver; and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness

4 Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.

And then shall be pleasant unto the Lord the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

And I will come near unto you to [hold] judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear falsely, and against those that withhold the wages of the hired laborer, [oppress] the widow, and the fatherless, and that do injustice to the stranger, and fear me not, saith the Lord of hosts.

6 “Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

For I the Lord, —I have not changed: and ye sons of Jacob—ye have not ceased to be.

7 Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But you ask, ‘How can we return?’

From the days of your fathers did ye depart from my statutes, and did not keep them; return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts; but ye say, Wherein shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.

Can a man rob God, that ye will rob me? But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and in heave-offerings.

9 You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.

With the curse are ye cursed, and yet me do ye rob, O ye entire nation!

10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.

Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be provision in my house, and prove me but herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing, until it be more than enough.

11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts.

And I will rebuke for you the devourer, and he shall not destroy for you the fruit of the ground: and the vine shall not cast its fruit for you before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the LORD of Hosts.

And all the nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a land of delight, saith the Lord of hosts.

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

Your words have been strong against me, saith the Lord; but ye say, What have we spoken among us against thee?

14 You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?

Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked contritely before the Lord of hosts?

15 So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”

And now we call the presumptuous happy: yea, built up are those that practise wickedness; yea, they have even tempted God and are [yet] suffered to escape.

16 At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name.

Then conversed they that fear the Lord one with the other: and the Lord listened and heard it, and there was written a book of remembrance before him for those who fear the Lord, and for those who respect his name.

17 “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.

And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, on that day which I create as a special treasure: and I will spare them, as a man spareth his son that serveth him.

18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

And ye shall return, and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that hath not served him.