Malachi 3

“Behold me, sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way to my face. Then suddenly he will come to his temple, the Lord whom you {are} seeking. And the messenger of the covenant, whom you {are} desiring, behold, {he is} coming,” says God of Armies.

“But who {will be} enduring the day of his coming? And who {will be} the one standing in his appearing? For he {will be} like the fire of a refiner and like the soap of launderers.

And he will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver. And they will be to God bringers of an offering in righteousness. \*

Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to God, as {in} the days of old and as {in} former years.

And I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the ones swearing to a lie, and against the ones oppressing the wage of the hired worker, the widow, and the orphan, and the ones turning aside the foreigner, and they do not fear me,” says God of Armies. \*

“For I, God, do not change, so you, sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.

From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept {them}. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says God of Armies. “But you say, ‘In what shall we return?’ \*

Will a human rob God? Yet you {are} robbing me. But you say, ‘In what have we robbed you?’ {In} the tithe and the contribution.

With a curse you {are} cursed, for you {are} robbing me, the nation, all of it. \*

Bring all of the tithe to the house of treasure, and let there be food in my house. And test me now in this,” says God of Armies, “if I will not open for you the windows of the heavens and pour out for you a blessing until there is no sufficiency.

And I will rebuke the devourer for you, and it will not corrupt for you the fruit of the ground. And the vine in the field will not be barren for you,” says God of Armies.

“And all of the nations will bless you, for you will be a land of delight,” says God of Armies. \*

“Your words have been strong against me,” says God. “But you say, ‘What have we spoken {among ourselves} against you?’

You have said, ‘Serving God {is} worthless. And what profit, that we have kept his charge and that we have walked mournfully to the face of God of Armies?

So now we ourselves {are} blessing the arrogant. Even doers of wickedness are built up; they even test God and escape.’” \*

Then the ones fearing God spoke {among themselves}, a man with his neighbor. And God paid attention and heard. And a book of remembrance was written to his face for the ones fearing God and for the ones esteeming his name. \*

“And they will be to me,” says God of Armies, “a special possession on the day that I {am} preparing. And I will have compassion on them just as a man has compassion on his son, the one serving him.

And you will return and see between the righteous and to the wicked, between the one serving God and to {one} who does not serve him. \*