Malachias (Malachi) 3
3
1Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts.
2And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? and who shall stand to see him? for he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller's herb:
3And he shall sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice.
4And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years.
5And I will come to you in judgment, and will be a speedy witness against sorcerers, and adulterers, and false swearers, and them that oppress the hireling in his wages; the widows, and the fatherless: and oppress the stranger, and have not feared me, saith the Lord of hosts.
6For I am the Lord, and I change not: and you the sons of Jacob are not consumed.
7For from the days of your fathers you have departed from my ordinances, and have not kept them: Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord of hosts. And you have said: Wherein shall we return?
8Shall a man afflict God? for you afflict me. And you have said: Wherein do we afflict thee? in tithes and in firstfruits.
9And you are cursed with want, and you afflict me, even the whole nation of you.
10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and try me in this, saith the Lord: if I open not unto you the flood-gates of heaven, and pour you out a blessing even to abundance.
11And I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer, and he shall not spoil the fruit of your land: neither shall the vine in the field be barren, saith the Lord of hosts.
12And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightful land, saith the Lord of hosts.
13Your words have been unsufferable to me, saith the Lord.
14And you have said: What have we spoken against thee? You have said: He laboureth in vain that serveth God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked sorrowful before the Lord of hosts?
15Wherefore now we call the proud people happy, for they that work wickedness are built up, and they have tempted God and are preserved.
16Then they that feared the Lord spoke every one with his neighbour: and the Lord gave ear, and heard it: and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that fear the Lord, and think on his name.
17And they shall be my special possession, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day that I do judgment: and I will spare them, as a man spareth his son that serveth him.
18And you shall return, and shall see the difference between the just and the wicked: and between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not.
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Malachias (Malachi) 3: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Malachi 3
3
1The Lord of heaven’s armies says, “I will send my messenger. He will prepare the way for me to come. Suddenly, the Lord you are looking for will come to his Temple. The messenger of the agreement, whom you want, will come.” 2No one can live through that time. No one can survive when he comes. He will be like a purifying fire. He will be like laundry soap. 3He will be like someone who heats and purifies silver. He will purify the Levites. He will make them pure like gold and silver. Then they will bring offerings to the Lord in the right way. 4And he will accept the offerings from Judah and Jerusalem. It will be as it was in the past. 5The Lord of heaven’s armies says, “Then I will come to you and judge you. I will testify against those who take part in evil magic, adultery and lying. I will testify against those who cheat workers of their pay and who cheat widows and orphans. And I will testify against those who are unfair to foreigners. These people do not respect me.
Stealing from God
6“I am the Lord. I do not change. So you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. 7Like your ancestors before you, you have disobeyed my rules. You have not kept them. Return to me. Then I will return to you,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
“But you ask, ‘How can we return?’
8“Should a man rob God? But you rob me.
“You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’
“You have robbed me in your offerings and the tenth of your crops. 9So a curse is on you because the whole nation has robbed me. 10Bring to the storehouse a tenth of what you gain. Then there will be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies. “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out more blessings than you have room for. 11I will stop the insects so they won’t eat your crops. The grapes won’t fall from your vines before they are ready to pick,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies. 12“All the nations will call you blessed. You will have a pleasant country,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
The Lord’s Promise of Mercy
13The Lord says, “You have said terrible things about me.
“But you ask, ‘What have we said about you?’
14“You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. It did no good to obey his laws. And it did no good to show the Lord of heaven’s armies that we are sorry for what we did. 15So we say that proud people are happy. Evil people succeed. They challenge God and get away with it.’”
16Then those who honored the Lord spoke with each other. The Lord listened and heard them. The names of those who honored the Lord and respected him were written in a book. The Lord will remember them.
17The Lord of heaven’s armies says, “They belong to me. On that day they will be my very own. A father shows mercy to his son who serves him. In the same way I will show mercy to my people. 18You will again see the difference between good and evil people. You will see the difference between those who serve God and those who don’t.
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