Malachi 3

¹"Behold, 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, behold, he comes!" says the Lord of hosts.

²"But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like launderer's soap;

³and 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.

⁴Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.

⁵I 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"For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

⁷From 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?'

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings.

⁹You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.

¹⁰Bring 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.

¹¹I 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"All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," says the Lord of hosts.

¹³"Your words have been stout against me," says the Lord. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against you?'

¹⁴You 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?

¹⁵Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.'

¹⁶Then those who feared the Lord spoke one with another; and the Lord listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared the Lord, and who honored his name.

¹⁷They 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.

¹⁸Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn't serve him.

Malachi 3

¹Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

²But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:

³And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

⁴Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

⁵And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁶For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

⁷Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

⁹Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

¹⁰Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith 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 to receive it.

¹¹And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹²And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹³Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

¹⁴Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?

¹⁵And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

¹⁶Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

¹⁷And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

¹⁸Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.