Malachi 3

1 “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.

“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.

2 “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;

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,

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.

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.

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

5 I will come near to you to judgment. 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.

“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.

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

“For I, the Lord, do not change; and you have not ceased to be descendants of Jacob.”

7 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?’

“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?’

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

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

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

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

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 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.

“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.

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 Armies.

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,

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

and all nations will call you happy, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

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

“You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord. “You ask, ‘What have we said about 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 Armies?

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?

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

So now we call the proud happy, evildoers thrive: they dare God and escape unharmed.’”

16 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 honored his name.

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.

17 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.

“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.

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.

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.”