Chapter 4

Final Admonition

1 “1For behold, the day is coming, aburning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be bchaff; and the day that is coming will cset them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”

2 “But for you who 1fear My name, the asun of righteousness will rise with bhealing in its wings; and you will go forth and cskip about like calves from the stall.

3 “You will atread down the wicked, for they will be bashes under the soles of your feet con the day 1which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.

4 “1aRemember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, I am going to send you aElijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

6 “He will 1arestore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and bsmite the land with a 2curse.”

Chapter 3

The Purifier

1 “aBehold, I am going to send bMy 1messenger, and he will 2cclear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; 3and the 1dmessenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.

2 “But who can aendure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a brefiner’s fire and like 1fullers’ soap.

3 “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will apurify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may bpresent to the Lord 1offerings in righteousness.

4 “Then the 1offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be apleasing to the Lord as in the bdays of old and as in former years.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the asorcerers and against the badulterers and against those who cswear falsely, and against those who oppress the dwage earner in his wages, the ewidow and the 1orphan, and those who turn aside the 2falien and do not 3fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.

6 “For 1I, the Lord, ado not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, 2are not consumed.

7 “From the adays of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. bReturn to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You Have Robbed God

8 “Will a man 1rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In atithes and 2offerings.

9 “You are acursed with a curse, for you are 1robbing Me, the whole nation of you!

10 “aBring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be 1food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not bopen for you the windows of heaven and cpour out for you a blessing until 2dit overflows.

11 “Then I will rebuke the adevourer for you, so that it will not 1destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts.

12 “aAll the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a bdelightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

13 “Your words have been 1arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

14 “You have said, ‘It is avain to serve God; and what bprofit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts?

15 ‘So now we acall the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and bescape.’ ”

The Book of Remembrance

16 Then those who 1feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord agave attention and heard it, and a bbook of remembrance was written before Him for those who 1fear the Lord and who esteem His name.

17 “They will be aMine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the bday that I 1prepare My 2cown possession, and I will 3spare them as a man 3dspares his own son who serves him.”

18 So you will again adistinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

Chapter 4

Final Admonition

1 “1For behold, the day is coming, aburning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be bchaff; and the day that is coming will cset them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”

2 “But for you who 1fear My name, the asun of righteousness will rise with bhealing in its wings; and you will go forth and cskip about like calves from the stall.

3 “You will atread down the wicked, for they will be bashes under the soles of your feet con the day 1which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.

4 “1aRemember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, I am going to send you aElijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

6 “He will 1arestore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and bsmite the land with a 2curse.”