Malachi 3

1 ‘I am about to send my messenger and he will clear a path before me: And the Lord, who you are seeking, will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant who you long for is already 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 will stand firm when he appears? He is like a refiner’s fire, and 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. He will purify the descendants of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, until they are fit to bring offerings to the Lord.

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 will the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

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 ‘I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against the sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, those who cheat workers, or widows, or orphans, deny justice to immigrants, and 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 ‘For I, the Lord, do not change; and you have not ceased to be descendants of Jacob.’

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

7 ‘From the days of your ancestors, you have turned aside from my statutes, and you have not kept them. Turn to me and I will turn to you,’ says the Lord. ‘You say, “How should we turn?”

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 Can a human rob God? Yet you robbed me. You ask, “How have we robbed you?” In tithes and gifts!

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 – your entire nation – are all cursed, because you rob me.

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

10 ‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there is food in my house. Test me in this way. See if I will not open to you the windows of the sky, and pour you out a blessing, until there is more than enough.

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 for your sakes the devouring locust and he will not destroy your crops, nor will the vine fail to ripen its fruit in the field, 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 and all nations will call you happy, for you will be a delightful land,’ 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 ‘You have said terrible things about me,’ says the Lord. ‘You ask, “What have we said about 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 useless to serve God, and what do we gain from the Lord of hosts by keeping his commands, and walking mournfully in funeral garb before him?

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 proud happy, evildoers thrive: they dare God and escape unharmed.”’

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 Such things those who revered the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice, and a record was written before him of those who revered the Lord and those who keep in mind 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, ‘my special possession on that day that I am preparing. I will spare them as a man spares his 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 Once again my people will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the person who serves God and the person who does 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.