Malachi 3

1 Lo, I am sending My messenger, And he hath prepared a way before Me, And suddenly come in unto his temple Doth the Lord whom ye are seeking, Even the messenger of the covenant, Whom ye are desiring, Lo, he is coming, said Jehovah of Hosts.

Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in: behold, he is coming, saith the Lord Almighty.

2 And who is bearing the day of his coming? And who is standing in his appearing? For he [is] as fire of a refiner, And as soap of a fuller.

And who will abide the day of his coming? or who will withstand at his appearing? for he is coming in as the fire of a furnace and as the herb of fullers.

3 And he hath sat, a refiner and purifier of silver, And he hath purified the sons of Levi, And hath refined them as gold and as silver, And they have been to Jehovah bringing nigh a present in righteousness.

He shall sit to melt and purify as it were silver, and as it were gold: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, and they shall offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.

4 And sweet to Jehovah hath been the present of Judah and Jerusalem, As in days of old, and as in former years.

And the sacrifice of Juda and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Lord, according to the former days, and according to the former years.

5 And I have drawn near to you for judgment, And I have been a witness, Making haste against sorcerers, And against adulterers, And against swearers to a falsehood, And against oppressors of the hire of an hireling, Of a widow, and of a fatherless one, And those turning aside a sojourner, And who fear Me not, said Jehovah of Hosts.

And I will draw near to you in judgment; and I will be a sift witness against the witches, and against the adulteresses, and against them that swear falsely by my name, and against them that keep back the hireling's wages, and them that oppress the widow, and afflict orphans, and that wrest the judgment of the stranger, and fear not me, saith the Lord Almighty.

6 For I [am] Jehovah, I have not changed, And ye, the sons of Jacob, Ye have not been consumed.

For I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed:

7 Even from the days of your fathers Ye have turned aside from My statutes, And ye have not taken heed. Turn back unto Me, and I turn back to you, Said Jehovah of Hosts. And ye have said, 'In what do we turn back?'

but ye, the sons of Jacob, have not refrained from the iniquities of your fathers: ye have perverted my statutes, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord Almighty. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

8 Doth man deceive God? but ye are deceiving Me, And ye have said: 'In what have we deceived Thee?' The tithe and the heave-offering!

Will a man insult God? for ye insult me. But ye say, Wherein have we insulted thee? In that the tithes and first-fruits are with you [still].

9 With a curse ye are cursed! And Me ye are deceiving — this nation — all of it.

And ye do surely look off from me, and ye insult me.

10 Bring in all the tithe unto the treasure-house, And there is food in My house; When ye have tried Me, now, with this, Said Jehovah of Hosts, Do not I open to you the windows of heaven? Yea, I have emptied on you a blessing till there is no space.

The year is completed, and ye have brought all the produce into the storehouses; but there shall be the plunder thereof in its house: return now on this behalf, saith the Lord Almighty, [see] if I will not open to you the torrents of heaven, and pour out my blessing upon you, until ye are satisfied.

11 And I have pushed for you against the consumer, And He doth not destroy to you the fruit of the ground, Nor miscarry to you doth the vine in the field, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

And I will appoint food for you, and I will not destroy the fruit of your land; and your vine in the field shall not fail, saith the Lord Almighty.

12 And declared you happy have all the nations, For ye are a delightful land, said Jehovah of Hosts.

And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a desirable land, saith the Lord Almighty.

13 Hard against Me have been your words, Said Jehovah, and ye have said: 'What have we spoken against Thee?'

Ye have spoken grievous words against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye said, Wherein have we spoken against thee?

14 Ye have said, 'A vain thing to serve God! And what gain when we kept His charge? And when we have gone in black, Because of Jehovah of Hosts?

Ye said, He that serves God labours in vain: and what have we gained in that we have kept his ordinances, and in that we have walked as suppliants before the face of the Lord Almighty?

15 And now, we are declaring the proud happy, Yea, built up have been those doing wickedness, Yea they have tempted God, and escape.'

And now we pronounce strangers blessed; and all they who act unlawfully are built up; and they have resisted God, and [yet] have been delivered.

16 Then have those fearing Jehovah spoken one to another, And Jehovah doth attend and hear, And written is a book of memorial before Him Of those fearing Jehovah, And of those esteeming His name.

Thus spoke they that feared the Lord, every one to his neighbour: and the Lord gave heed, and hearkened, and he wrote a book of remembrance before him for them that feared the Lord and reverenced his name.

17 And they have been to Me, said Jehovah of Hosts, In the day that I am appointing — a peculiar treasure, And I have had pity on them, As one hath pity on his son who is serving him.

And they shall be mine, saith the Lord Almighty, in the day which I appoint for a peculiar possession; and I will make choice of them, as a man makes choice of his son that serves him.

18 And ye have turned back and considered, Between the righteous and the wicked, Between the servant of God and him who is not His servant.

Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, and between him that serves God, and him that serves [him] not.