< Malachi 3 >
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he will come, saith 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 may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he [is] like a refiner's fire, and like fuller'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 shall sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering 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 shall the offering 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 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in [his] wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger [from his right], and fear not me, saith 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 [am] the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
For I the Lord, —I have not changed: and ye sons of Jacob—ye have not ceased to be.
7 Even from the days of your fathers ye have gone away from my ordinances, and have not kept [them]. Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, In what shall 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 ye have robbed me. But ye say, In what have we robbed thee? 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 Ye [are] cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, [even] this whole nation.
With the curse are ye cursed, and yet me do ye rob, O ye entire nation!
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now with this, saith 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 [to receive it].
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 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith 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 shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith 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 have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken [so much] against thee?
Your words have been strong against me, saith the Lord; but ye say, What have we spoken among us against thee?
14 Ye have said, It [is] vain to serve God: and what profit [is it] that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked 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 And now we call the proud happy; yes, they that work wickedness are set up; even [they that] tempt God are delivered.
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 Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon 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 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth 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 Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him 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.