< Malachi 3 >
1 Lo! Y sende myn aungel, and he schal make redi weie bifor my face; and anoon the lordshipere, whom ye seken, schal come to his hooli temple, and the aungel of testament, whom ye wolen. Lo! he cometh, seith the Lord of oostis;
"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.
2 and who schal mowe thenke the dai of his comyng? and who schal stonde for to se hym? For he schal be as fier wellynge togidere, and as erbe of fulleris;
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.
3 and he schal sitte wellynge togidere and clensynge siluer, and he schal purge the sones of Leuy; and he schal purge hem as gold and as siluer, and thei schulen be offrynge to the Lord sacrifices in riytfulnesse.
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.
4 And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem schal plese to the Lord, as the daies of the world, and as olde yeeris.
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
5 And Y schal come to you in doom, and Y schal be a swift witnesse to mysdoeris, `ether enchaunteris of deuelis craft, and to auouteris, and forsworn men, and that falsli calengen the hire of the hirid man, and widewis, and fadirles, `ether modirles, children, and oppressen a pilgrym, `nether dredden me, seith the Lord of oostis.
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.
6 Forsothe Y am the Lord, and am not chaungid; and ye sones of Jacob ben not wastid.
"For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
7 Forsothe fro daies of youre fadris ye wenten awei fro my lawful thingis, and kepten not; turne ye ayen to me, and Y schal ayen turne to you, seith the Lord of oostis. And ye seiden, In what thing schulen we turne ayen?
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?'
8 If a man schal turmente God, for ye `togidere fitchen me. And ye seiden, In what thing `togidere fitchen we thee? In tithis and in `firste fruitis;
Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings.
9 and ye ben cursid in nedynesse, and alle ye folc disseyuen me, and `togidere fitchen.
You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.
10 Brynge ye yn ech tithe in to my berne, that mete be in myn hous, and preue ye me on this thing, seith the Lord, if Y schal not opene to you the goteris of heuene, and schal schede out to you blessyng, til to aboundaunce.
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.
11 And Y schal blame for you that that deuourith, and he schal not distrie the fruit of youre lond; nether bareyn vyneyerd schal be in the feeld,
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.
12 seith the Lord of oostis, and alle folkis schulen seie you blessid; for ye schulen be a desirable lond, seith the Lord of oostis.
"All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," says the LORD of hosts.
13 Youre wordis wexiden strong on me, seith the Lord; and ye seiden, What han we spokun ayens thee?
"Your words have been stout against me," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against you?'
14 And ye seiden, He is veyn, that serueth God; and what wynnyng for we kepten hise heestis, and for we wenten sorewful bifore the Lord of oostis?
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?
15 Therfor now we seien proude men blessid; for thei ben bildid doynge vnpitee, and thei temptiden God, and ben maad saaf.
Now we call the proud blessed; indeed, evildoers prosper. They even tempt God and escape.'
16 Thanne men dredynge God spaken, ech with his neiybore; and the Lord perseyuede, and herde, and a book of mynde is writun bifor hym to `men dredynge God, and thenkynge his name.
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.
17 And thei schulen be to me, seith the Lord of oostis, in the dai in which Y schal make, in to a special tresour; and Y schal spare hem, as a man sparith his sone seruynge to hym.
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.
18 And ye schulen be conuertid, and ye schulen se, what is bitwixe the iust man and vnpitouse, bitwixe `the seruynge to the Lord and `not seruynge to hym.
Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn't serve him.