Μαλαχίας 3

1 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐξαποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου καὶ ἐπιβλέψεται ὁδὸν πρὸ προσώπου μου καὶ ἐξαίφνης ἥξει εἰς τὸν ναὸν ἑαυτοῦ κύριος ὃν ὑμεῖς ζητεῖτε καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος τῆς διαθήκης ὃν ὑμεῖς θέλετε ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ

“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 καὶ τίς ὑπομενεῖ ἡμέραν εἰσόδου αὐτοῦ ἢ τίς ὑποστήσεται ἐν τῇ ὀπτασίᾳ αὐτοῦ διότι αὐτὸς εἰσπορεύεται ὡς πῦρ χωνευτηρίου καὶ ὡς πόα πλυνόντων

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 καὶ καθιεῖται χωνεύων καὶ καθαρίζων ὡς τὸ ἀργύριον καὶ ὡς τὸ χρυσίον καὶ καθαρίσει τοὺς υἱοὺς Λευι καὶ χεεῖ αὐτοὺς ὡς τὸ χρυσίον καὶ ὡς τὸ ἀργύριον καὶ ἔσονται τῷ κυρίῳ προσάγοντες θυσίαν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ

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 καὶ ἀρέσει τῷ κυρίῳ θυσία Ιουδα καὶ Ιερουσαλημ καθὼς αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ καθὼς τὰ ἔτη τὰ ἔμπροσθεν

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 καὶ προσάξω πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν κρίσει καὶ ἔσομαι μάρτυς ταχὺς ἐπὶ τὰς φαρμακοὺς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς μοιχαλίδας καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀμνύοντας τῷ ὀνόματί μου ἐπὶ ψεύδει καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀποστεροῦντας μισθὸν μισθωτοῦ καὶ τοὺς καταδυναστεύοντας χήραν καὶ τοὺς κονδυλίζοντας ὀρφανοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἐκκλίνοντας κρίσιν προσηλύτου καὶ τοὺς μὴ φοβουμένους με λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ

“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 διότι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἠλλοίωμαι καὶ ὑμεῖς υἱοὶ Ιακωβ οὐκ ἀπέχεσθε

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

7 ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδικιῶν τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν ἐξεκλίνατε νόμιμά μου καὶ οὐκ ἐφυλάξασθε ἐπιστρέψατε πρός με καὶ ἐπιστραφήσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ καὶ εἴπατε ἐν τίνι ἐπιστρέψωμεν

“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 εἰ πτερνιεῖ ἄνθρωπος θεόν διότι ὑμεῖς πτερνίζετέ με καὶ ἐρεῖτε ἐν τίνι ἐπτερνίκαμέν σε ὅτι τὰ ἐπιδέκατα καὶ αἱ ἀπαρχαὶ μεθ’ ὑμῶν εἰσιν

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

9 καὶ ἀποβλέποντες ὑμεῖς ἀποβλέπετε καὶ ἐμὲ ὑμεῖς πτερνίζετε τὸ ἔθνος συνετελέσθη

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

10 καὶ εἰσηνέγκατε πάντα τὰ ἐκφόρια εἰς τοὺς θησαυρούς καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ ἔσται ἡ διαρπαγὴ αὐτοῦ ἐπισκέψασθε δὴ ἐν τούτῳ λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἐὰν μὴ ἀνοίξω ὑμῖν τοὺς καταρράκτας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἐκχεῶ ὑμῖν τὴν εὐλογίαν μου ἕως τοῦ ἱκανωθῆναι

“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 καὶ διαστελῶ ὑμῖν εἰς βρῶσιν καὶ οὐ μὴ διαφθείρω ὑμῶν τὸν καρπὸν τῆς γῆς καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀσθενήσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ

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 καὶ μακαριοῦσιν ὑμᾶς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη διότι ἔσεσθε ὑμεῖς γῆ θελητή λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ

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

13 ἐβαρύνατε ἐπ’ ἐμὲ τοὺς λόγους ὑμῶν λέγει κύριος καὶ εἴπατε ἐν τίνι κατελαλήσαμεν κατὰ σοῦ

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

14 εἴπατε μάταιος ὁ δουλεύων θεῷ καὶ τί πλέον ὅτι ἐφυλάξαμεν τὰ φυλάγματα αὐτοῦ καὶ διότι ἐπορεύθημεν ἱκέται πρὸ προσώπου κυρίου παντοκράτορος

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 καὶ νῦν ἡμεῖς μακαρίζομεν ἀλλοτρίους καὶ ἀνοικοδομοῦνται πάντες ποιοῦντες ἄνομα καὶ ἀντέστησαν θεῷ καὶ ἐσώθησαν

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

16 ταῦτα κατελάλησαν οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν κύριον ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ καὶ προσέσχεν κύριος καὶ εἰσήκουσεν καὶ ἔγραψεν βιβλίον μνημοσύνου ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸν κύριον καὶ εὐλαβουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ

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 καὶ ἔσονταί μοι λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ εἰς ἡμέραν ἣν ἐγὼ ποιῶ εἰς περιποίησιν καὶ αἱρετιῶ αὐτοὺς ὃν τρόπον αἱρετίζει ἄνθρωπος τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν δουλεύοντα αὐτῷ

“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 καὶ ἐπιστραφήσεσθε καὶ ὄψεσθε ἀνὰ μέσον δικαίου καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον ἀνόμου καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ δουλεύοντος θεῷ καὶ τοῦ μὴ δουλεύοντος

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.”