Malachi 3

1 "Look, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, look, he comes." says the LORD of hosts.

See, I am sending my servant, and he will make ready the way before me; and the Lord, whom you are looking for, will suddenly come to his Temple; and the angel of the agreement, in whom you have delight, see, he is coming, says the Lord of armies.

2 But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is coming like a refiner's fire, and like launderer's soap.

But by whom may the day of his coming be faced? and who may keep his place when he is seen? for he is like the metal-tester's fire and the cleaner's soap.

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.

He will take his seat, testing and cleaning the sons of Levi, burning away the evil from them as from gold and silver; so that they may make offerings to the Lord 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 the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in days gone by, and as in past years.

5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and 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 hosts.

And I will come near to you for judging; I will quickly be a witness against the wonder-workers, against those who have been untrue in married life, against those who take false oaths; against those who keep back from the servant his payment, and who are hard on the widow and the child without a father, who do not give his rights to the man from a strange country, and have no fear of me, says the Lord of armies.

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

For I am the Lord, I am unchanged; and so you, O sons of Jacob, have not been cut off.

7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'

From the days of your fathers you have been turned away from my rules and have not kept them. Come back to me, and I will come back to you, says the Lord of armies. But you say, How are we to come back?

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

Will a man keep back from God what is right? But you have kept back what is mine. But you say, What have we kept back from you? Tenths and offerings.

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

You are cursed with a curse; for you have kept back from me what is mine, even all this 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 hosts, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for.

Let your tenths come into the store-house so that there may be food in my house, and put me to the test by doing so, says the Lord of armies, and see if I do not make the windows of heaven open and send down such a blessing on you that there is no room for it.

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 hosts.

And on your account I will keep back the locusts from wasting the fruits of your land; and the fruit of your vine will not be dropped on the field before its time, says the Lord of armies

12 "All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," says the LORD of hosts.

And you will be named happy by all nations: for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of armies.

13 "Your words have been stout against me," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against you?'

Your words have been strong against me, says the Lord. And still you say, What have we said against you?

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 hosts?

You have said, It is no use worshipping God: what profit have we had from keeping his orders, and going in clothing of sorrow before the Lord of armies?

15 Now we call the proud blessed; indeed, evildoers prosper. They even tempt God and escape.'

And now to us the men of pride seem happy; yes, the evil-doers are doing well; they put God to the test and are safe.

16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke one with another; and the LORD listened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for those who feared the LORD, and who honored his name.

Then those in whom was the fear of the Lord had talk together: and the Lord gave ear, and it was recorded in a book to be kept in mind before him, for those who had the fear of the Lord and gave thought to his name.

17 They shall be mine," says the LORD of hosts, "my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.

And they will be mine, says the Lord, in the day when I make them my special property; and I will have mercy on them as a man has mercy on his son who is his servant.

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

Then you will again see how the upright man is different from the sinner, and the servant of God from him who is not.