< Malachi 3 >
1 look! I to send: depart messenger my and to turn way: road to/for face: before my and suddenly to come (in): come to(wards) temple his [the] lord which you(m. p.) to seek and messenger [the] covenant which you(m. p.) delighting behold to come (in): come to say LORD Hosts
The Commander of the armies of angels says [this]: “Listen! I [am about to] send my messenger who will prepare [the people to receive me] when I come. [You claim that] [IRO] you are wanting to see me, and I will suddenly come to my temple. The messenger [who will tell you about a new] agreement, the one whom you are eagerly [SAR] awaiting, is certainly going to come [to you].”
2 and who? to sustain [obj] day to come (in): come he and who? [the] to stand: stand in/on/with to see: see he for he/she/it like/as fire to refine and like/as lye to wash
But will anyone [RHQ] be able to survive when he comes? Will anyone [RHQ] be able to [remain] standing in front of him? [Certainly not, ] because he will be like [SIM] a blazing fire that refines/purifies [metal/gold]. He will be like [SIM] a very strong soap [that bleaches clothes].
3 and to dwell to refine and be pure silver: money and be pure [obj] son: descendant/people Levi and to refine [obj] them like/as gold and like/as silver: money and to be to/for LORD to approach: bring offering in/on/with righteousness
[He will be like a worker who] sits [in front of his work] to cause silver to become pure by burning all the impurities. Like [a worker refines] silver and gold, he will cause the (descendants of Levi/priests) to become pure, [in order that they will again become acceptable to] offer sacrifices that will be acceptable to him.
4 and to please to/for LORD offering Judah and Jerusalem like/as day forever: antiquity and like/as year eastern: older
When that happens, Yahweh will [again] accept the offerings brought to him by [the people of] Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah, as [he did] previously.
5 and to present: come to(wards) you to/for justice: judgement and to be witness to hasten in/on/with to practice sorcery and in/on/with to commit adultery and in/on/with to swear to/for deception and in/on/with to oppress wages hired widow and orphan and to stretch sojourner and not to fear: revere me to say LORD Hosts
[This is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says: “At that time, I will come to you to judge you. I will quickly testify against [all] those who practice sorcery/witchcraft, [all] who have committed adultery, and [all] liars. [I will testify] against those who have not given their workers the pay/wages that they promised, those who (oppress/treat cruelly) widows and orphans, and those who do not allow foreigners who live among you to be treated fairly. [I will testify that all] the people who do those things do not revere me.”
6 for I LORD not to change and you(m. p.) son: descendant/people Jacob not to end: destroy
“I am Yahweh, and I never change. And although you [deceive people like] your ancestor Jacob did, I have not [yet] gotten rid of you.
7 to/for from day father your to turn aside: turn aside from statute: decree my and not to keep: obey to return: return to(wards) me and to return: return to(wards) you to say LORD Hosts and to say in/on/with what? to return: return
You and your ancestors have ignored my commands and you have not obeyed them. [Now] return to me; and when that happens, I will (return/do good) to you. [That is what I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, say.” But you ask, “[We have never gone away from you, so] how can we return [to you]?”
8 to rob man God for you(m. p.) to rob [obj] me and to say in/on/with what? to rob you [the] tithe and [the] contribution
[I reply, ] “People should certainly not [RHQ] cheat God; but you people have cheated me!” You ask, “In what way did we cheat you?” [I reply, ] “[You have cheated me by not bringing to me each year] (the tithes/one tenth of [all] your crops and animals) and [other] offerings [that you are required to give to me].
9 in/on/with curse you(m. p.) to curse and [obj] me you(m. p.) to rob [the] nation all his
All that you do is cursed, because all you people in this country have been cheating me.
10 to come (in): bring [obj] all [the] tithe to(wards) house: home [the] treasure and to be prey in/on/with house: home my and to test me please in/on/with this to say LORD Hosts if not to open to/for you [obj] window [the] heaven and to empty to/for you blessing till without sufficiency
[Now] bring all the tithes to the storage rooms [in the temple], in order that there will be [enough] food [for the people who serve me] there. If you do that, I, the Commander of the armies of angels, promise that I will open the windows of heaven, and pour out [from them] blessings on you. [If you bring your tithes to the temple, the blessings will be] very great, with the result that you will not have enough space to store all of them. So test me [to see if I am telling the truth].
11 and to rebuke to/for you in/on/with to eat and not to ruin to/for you [obj] fruit [the] land: soil and not be bereaved to/for you [the] vine in/on/with land: country to say LORD Hosts
You will have abundant crops [to harvest], because I will protect them in order that they will not be harmed by locusts/insects. Your grapes will not fall from the vines [before they are ripe].
12 and to bless [obj] you all [the] nation for to be you(m. p.) land: country/planet pleasure to say LORD Hosts
When that happens, [the people of] all nations will say that [I] have blessed you, because your country will be delightful. [That is what I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, say.
13 to strengthen: strengthen upon me word your to say LORD and to say what? to speak: speak upon you
[I, ] Yahweh, [have something else] to say [to you]. You have said terrible things about me.” But you reply, “What terrible things have we said about you?”
14 to say vanity: vain to serve: minister God and what? unjust-gain for to keep: obey charge his and for to go: walk mournfully from face: before LORD Hosts
[I reply], “You have said, ‘It is useless [for us] to serve God. We have gained nothing [RHQ] by obeying the commands that he gave [to us] and by trying to show the Commander of the armies of angels that we are sorry [for the sins that we have committed].
15 and now we to bless arrogant also to build to make: [do] wickedness also to test God and to escape
From now on, we will say/consider that those who are proud are [the ones whom God has] blessed. [We will say that because it seems that it is] those who do evil who become rich, and [that it is] those who try to find out how many evil things they can do without God punishing them who are not punished.’”
16 then to speak: speak afraid LORD man: anyone with neighbor his and to listen LORD and to hear: hear and to write scroll: book memorial to/for face: before his to/for afraid LORD and to/for to devise: count name his
After [the people heard my message], those who revered Yahweh discussed [those things] with each other, and Yahweh listened to what they said. While Yahweh was watching, they wrote on a scroll the things that would remind them [about what they promised], and they wrote on that scroll the names of those who revered Yahweh and who [said that they] always wanted to honor him [MTY].
17 and to be to/for me to say LORD Hosts to/for day which I to make possession and to spare upon them like/as as which to spare man: anyone upon son: child his [the] to serve [obj] him
The Commander of the armies of angels says this [about those people]: “They will be my people. At the time that I judge people, [they will be like] [MET] a special treasure to me. I will be kind to them, like [SIM] fathers are kind to their sons who obey them.
18 and to return: again and to see: see between righteous to/for wicked between to serve: minister God to/for which not to serve: minister him
When that happens, you will again see that [the manner in which I treat] righteous people is different from [the manner in which I treat] wicked people. [You will see that the manner in which I act toward] those who serve me is different from [the manner in which I act toward] those who do not.”