Malachi 3

1 “Behold, I am sending My messenger, And he has prepared a way before Me, And suddenly the Lord whom you are seeking comes into His temple, Even the Messenger of the Covenant, Whom you are desiring, Behold, He is coming,” said YHWH of Hosts.

“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.

2 “And who is bearing the day of His coming? And who is standing in His appearing? For He [is] as fire of a refiner, And as soap of a fuller.

“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;

3 And He has sat, a refiner and purifier of silver, And He has purified the sons of Levi, And has refined them as gold and as silver, And they have been bringing a present near to YHWH in righteousness.

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.

4 And the present of Judah and Jerusalem has been sweet to YHWH, As in days of old, and as in former years.

Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the LORD as in the days of old and as in ancient years.

5 And I have drawn near to you for judgment, And I have been a witness, Making haste against sorcerers, and against adulterers, And against swearers to a falsehood, And against oppressors of the hire of a hired worker, Of a widow, and of a fatherless one, And those turning aside a sojourner, And who do not fear Me,” said YHWH of Hosts.

I will come near to you to judgement. 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 don’t fear me,” says the LORD of Armies.

6 “For I, YHWH, have not changed, And you, the sons of Jacob, You have not been consumed.

“For I, the LORD, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

7 Even from the days of your fathers You have turned aside from My statutes, And you have not taken heed. Return to Me, and I return to you,” said YHWH of Hosts. “And you have said, In what do we turn back?

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?’

8 Does man deceive God? But you are deceiving Me, And you have said, In what have we deceived You? The tithe and the raised-offering!

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

9 You are cursed with a curse! And you are deceiving Me—this nation—all of it.

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

10 Bring in all the tithe to the treasure-house, And there is food in My house; When you have tried Me, now, with this,” said YHWH of Hosts, “Do I not open the windows of the heavens to you? Indeed, I have emptied on you a blessing until there is no space.

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.

11 And I have pushed against the consumer for you, And He does not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor does the vine in the field miscarry to you,” said YHWH of Hosts.

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.

12 “And all the nations have declared you blessed, For you are a delightful land,” said YHWH of Hosts.

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

13 “Your words have been hard against Me,” said YHWH, “And you have said, What have we spoken against You?

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

14 You have said, A vain thing to serve God! And what gain when we kept His charge? And when we have gone in black, Because of YHWH of Hosts?

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?

15 And now, we are declaring the proud blessed, Indeed, those doing wickedness have been built up, Indeed, they have tempted God, and escape.

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

16 Then have those fearing YHWH spoken to one another, And YHWH attends and hears, And a scroll of memorial is written before Him Of those fearing YHWH, And of those esteeming His Name.

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 honoured his name.

17 And they have been to Me,” said YHWH of Hosts, “In the day that I am appointing—a peculiar treasure, And I have had pity on them, As one has pity on his son who is serving him.

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.

18 And you have turned back and considered, Between the righteous and the wicked, Between the servant of God and him who is not His servant.”

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