Malachi 3:1-18
3 “Look! I am sending my messenger,*+ and he must clear up a way before me.+ And suddenly there will come to His temple*+ the [true] Lord,*+ whom YOU people are seeking, and the messenger*+ of the covenant+ in whom YOU are delighting.+ Look! He will certainly come,” Jehovah of armies has said.+
2 “But who will be putting up with the day of his coming,+ and who will be the one standing when he appears?+ For he will be like the fire of a refiner+ and like the lye+ of laundrymen.+
3 And he must sit as a refiner and cleanser of silver+ and must cleanse the sons of Leʹvi;*+ and he must clarify them like gold+ and like silver, and they will certainly become to Jehovah people presenting a gift offering+ in righteousness.
4 And the gift offering of Judah and of Jerusalem will actually be gratifying to Jehovah,+ as in the days of long ago and as in the years of antiquity.+
5 “And I will come near to YOU people for the judgment,+ and I will become a speedy witness+ against the sorcerers,+ and against the adulterers,*+ and against those swearing falsely,+ and against those acting fraudulently with the wages of a wage worker,+ with [the] widow+ and with [the] fatherless boy,+ and those turning away the alien resident,+ while they have not feared me,”+ Jehovah of armies has said.
6 “For I am Jehovah; I have not changed.+ And YOU are sons of Jacob; YOU have not come to YOUR finish.+
7 From the days of YOUR forefathers YOU have turned aside from my regulations and have not kept [them].+ Return to me, and I will return to YOU,”+ Jehovah of armies has said.
And YOU have said: “In what way shall we return?”
8 “Will earthling man* rob God?* But YOU are robbing me.”
And YOU have said: “In what way have we robbed you?”
“In the tenth parts* and in the contributions.
9 With the curse YOU are cursing+ [me],* and me YOU are robbing—the nation in its entirety.
10 Bring all the tenth parts+ into the storehouse, that there may come to be food in my house;+ and test me out, please, in this respect,”+ Jehovah of armies has said, “whether I shall not open to YOU people the floodgates of the heavens+ and actually empty out upon YOU a blessing until there is no more want.”+
11 “And I will rebuke for YOU the devouring one,*+ and it will not ruin for YOU the fruit of the ground, nor will the vine in the field prove fruitless for YOU,”+ Jehovah of armies has said.
12 “And all the nations will have to pronounce YOU happy,+ for YOU yourselves will become a land of delight,”+ Jehovah of armies has said.
13 “Strong have been YOUR words against me,”+ Jehovah has said.
And YOU have said: “What have we spoken with one another against you?”+
14 “YOU have said, ‘It is of no value to serve God.+ And what profit is there in that we have kept the obligation to him, and that we have walked dejectedly on account of Jehovah of armies?+
15 And at present we are pronouncing presumptuous people happy.+ Also, the doers of wickedness have been built up.+ Also, they have tested God* out and keep getting away.’”+
16 At that time those in fear of Jehovah+ spoke with one another, each one with his companion, and Jehovah kept paying attention and listening.+ And a book of remembrance* began to be written up before him+ for those in fear of Jehovah and for those thinking upon his name.+
17 “And they will certainly become mine,”+ Jehovah of armies has said, “at the day when I am producing a special property.+ And I will show compassion upon them, just as a man* shows compassion upon his son who is serving him.+
18 And YOU people will again certainly see* [the distinction] between a righteous one and a wicked one,+ between one serving God and one who has not served him.”+
Footnotes
^ “And the messenger (angel).” Heb., u·mal·ʼakhʹ; Gr., agʹge·los; Lat., anʹge·lus.
^ “The [true] Lord.” Heb., ha·ʼA·dhohnʹ; Gr., Kyʹri·os; Lat., Do·mi·naʹtor. See App 1H.
^ “My messenger.” Heb., mal·ʼa·khiʹ; Lat., anʹge·lum. See Title ftn.
^ “Levi.” Heb., Le·wiʹ.
^ “Adulterers.” Lat., a·dulʹte·ris.
^ “Earthling man.” Heb., ʼa·dhamʹ; Lat., hoʹmo.
^ “Tenth parts.” Or, “tithes.”
^ “God.” Heb., ʼElo·himʹ; Lat., Deʹum.
^ “You are cursing [me]” was the original reading. The Sopherim changed the text to read “you are cursed,” out of respect for God. See App 2B.
^ Or, “the eater,” referring to an insect.
^ “God.” Heb., ʼElo·himʹ; Lat., Deʹum.
^ Or, “record.”
^ “A man.” Heb., ʼish.
^ Lit., “will certainly return and see.”
