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;
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 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 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 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.
[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 the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem schal plese to the Lord, as the daies of the world, and as olde yeeris.
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 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.
[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 Forsothe Y am the Lord, and am not chaungid; and ye sones of Jacob ben not wastid.
“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 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?
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 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;
[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 and ye ben cursid in nedynesse, and alle ye folc disseyuen me, and `togidere fitchen.
All that you do is cursed, because all you people in this country have been cheating me.
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.
[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 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,
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 seith the Lord of oostis, and alle folkis schulen seie you blessid; for ye schulen be a desirable lond, seith the Lord of oostis.
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 Youre wordis wexiden strong on me, seith the Lord; and ye seiden, What han we spokun ayens thee?
[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 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?
[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 Therfor now we seien proude men blessid; for thei ben bildid doynge vnpitee, and thei temptiden God, and ben maad saaf.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.”
