Malachi 2:17–3:6

JUDGMENT AT THE LORD’S COMING

¹⁷You have wearied the Lord^aa with your words.

Yet you ask, “How have we wearied him?”

When you say, “Everyone who does what is evil is good in the Lord’s sight, and he is delighted with them,^ab or else where is the God of justice?”^ac

3“See, I am going to send my messenger,^ad and he will clear the way before me.^ae Then the Lord you seek^af will suddenly come to his temple,^ag the Messenger of the covenant you delight in—see, he is coming,” says the Lord of Armies. ²But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will be able to stand when he appears?^ah For he will be like a refiner’s fire^ai and like launderer’s bleach.^{Caj 3}He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.^ak Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. ⁴And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old^al and years gone by.

⁵“I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, and the fatherless; and against those who deny justice to the resident alien.^am They do not fear me,”^an says the Lord of Armies. ⁶“Because I, the Lord, have not changed,^ao you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.^Dap