Malachi 3

3“See, I am going to send My messenger, ^hand he will clear the way before Me. ⁱThen the Lord you seek ^jwill suddenly come to His temple, ^kthe Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts. ²But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? ^lFor He will be like a refiner’s fire ^mand like cleansing lye. ⁿ³He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. ^oThen 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 ^pand 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 widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. ^qThey do not fear Me,” ^rsays the Lord of Hosts. ⁶“Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, ^syou descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. ^t

Robbing God

⁷“Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from My statutes; you have not kept them. ^uReturn to Me, ^vand I will return to you,” ^wsays the Lord of Hosts.

But you ask: “How can we return?”

⁸“Will a man rob ^xGod? Yet you are robbing Me!”

You ask: “How do we rob You?”

“By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. ^y9You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. ¹⁰Bring the full tenth into the storehouse ^zso that there may be food in My house. ^aTest Me in this way,” ^bsays the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven ^cand pour out a blessing for you without measure. ^d11I will rebuke the devourer ^effor you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the Lord of Hosts. ¹²“Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of Hosts.

The Righteous and the Wicked

¹³“Your words against Me are harsh,” ^gsays the Lord.

Yet you ask: “What have we spoken against You?”

¹⁴You have said: “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements ^hand walking mournfully ⁱbefore the Lord of Hosts? ¹⁵So now we consider the arrogant ^jto be fortunate. ^kNot only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God ^land escape.” ^m

¹⁶At that time those who feared the Lord spoke to one another. The Lord took notice and listened. So a book of remembrance ⁿwas written before Him for those who feared Yahweh and had high regard for His name. ¹⁷“They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, ^o“a special possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. ^p18So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.