Malachi 3

The Lord Will Come to His Temple

1“Look, I am sending my messenger,
and he will prepare the way before me.
And the Lord whom you seek
will suddenly come to his temple.
And the messenger of the covenant
in whom you delight,
look, he is coming,”
says the LORD of Hosts.

2“But who can endure the day of his coming,
and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner's fire
and like fullers' soap. 3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi
and refine them like gold and silver,
and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
will be pleasing to the LORD
as in the days of old
and as in former years.

5Then I will draw near to you for judgment.
I will be a swift witness
against sorcerers,
against adulterers,
against people who swear falsely,
against people who oppress the hired worker in his wages,
the widow and the fatherless,
against people who thrust aside the the alien and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

6“For I, the LORD, do not change.
So you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 7From the days of your fathers
you have turned aside from my statutes
and have not kept them.
Return to me,
and I will return to you,”
says the LORD of Hosts.
But you say,
“How will we return?”

Robbing God

8“Will a man rob God?
Yet you are robbing me.
But you say,
‘How have we robbed you?’
In tithes and contributions. 9You are cursed with a curse,
for you are robbing me,
the whole nation of you.

10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse,
that there may be food in my house.
And thereby put me to the test,”
says the LORD of Hosts,
“if I will not open for you
the windows of heaven
and pour out for you a blessing
until there is no more need. 11I will rebuke the devourer for you,
so that it will not destroy the fruit of your soil,
and your vine in the field will not fail to bear,”
says the LORD of Hosts. 12“Then all nations will call you blessed,
for you will be a land of delight,”
says the LORD of Hosts.

The Book of Remembrance

13“Your words have been hard against me,”
says the LORD.
But you say,
‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14You have said,
‘It is vain to serve God.
What profit is there in keeping his charge
or in walking as mourners
before the LORD of Hosts? 15And now we call the arrogant blessed.
Evildoers not only prosper
but they put God to the test and escape.’”

16Then people who feared the LORD
spoke with one another.
The LORD paid attention and heard them,
and a book of remembrance was written before him
of people who feared the LORD
and esteemed his name. 17“They will be mine,”
says the LORD of Hosts,
“in the day when I make up my treasured possession,
and I will spare them
as a man spares his son who serves him. 18Then once more you will see
the distinction between the righteous and the wicked,
between one who serves God
and one who does not serve him.”