1 “ See, I am going to send one with news, and he will make the way ready before Me. Then all at once the Lord you are looking for will come to His house. The one with the news of the agreement, whom you desire, is coming,” says the Lord of All.

Lo, I am sending My messenger, And he hath prepared a way before Me, And suddenly come in unto his temple Doth the Lord whom ye are seeking, Even the messenger of the covenant, Whom ye are desiring, Lo, he is coming, said Jehovah of Hosts.

2 “ But who can live through the day of His coming? Who can stand when He shows Himself? For He is like a fire for making gold pure, and like a strong cleaner.

And who is bearing the day of his coming? And who is standing in his appearing? For he as fire of a refiner, And as soap of a fuller.

3 H e will sit as one who melts silver and makes it pure. He will make the sons of Levi pure. He will make them pure like gold and silver, so that they may bring the right gifts to the Lord.

And he hath sat, a refiner and purifier of silver, And he hath purified the sons of Levi, And hath refined them as gold and as silver, And they have been to Jehovah bringing nigh a present in righteousness.

4 T hen the gifts of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as they were in the past.

And sweet to Jehovah hath been the present of Judah and Jerusalem, As in days of old, and as in former years.

5 T hen I will come to judge you. I will be quick to speak against those who use witchcraft, and those who do sex sins, and those who make false promises. I will speak against those who do not pay a man what he has earned, and who make it hard for the woman whose husband has died and for children who have no parents. And I will speak against those who turn away the stranger and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of All.

And I have drawn near to you for judgment, And I have been a witness, Making haste against sorcerers, And against adulterers, And against swearers to a falsehood, And against oppressors of the hire of an hireling, Of a widow, and of a fatherless one, And those turning aside a sojourner, And who fear Me not, said Jehovah of Hosts.

6 “ For I, the Lord, do not change. So you, O children of Jacob, are not destroyed. Giving to God a Tenth Part

For I Jehovah, I have not changed, And ye, the sons of Jacob, Ye have not been consumed.

7 “ From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My Laws and have not obeyed them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of All. “But you say, ‘How are we to return?’

Even from the days of your fathers Ye have turned aside from My statutes, And ye have not taken heed. Turn back unto Me, and I turn back to you, Said Jehovah of Hosts. And ye have said, `In what do we turn back?'

8 W ill a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ You have not given Me the tenth part of what you receive and your gifts.

Doth man deceive God? but ye are deceiving Me, And ye have said: `In what have we deceived Thee?' The tithe and the heave-offering!

9 Y ou are cursed, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!

With a curse ye are cursed! And Me ye are deceiving -- this nation -- all of it.

10 B ring the tenth part into the store-house, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord of All. “See if I will not then open the windows of heaven and pour out good things for you until there is no more need.

Bring in all the tithe unto the treasure-house, And there is food in My house; When ye have tried Me, now, with this, Said Jehovah of Hosts, Do not I open to you the windows of heaven? Yea, I have emptied on you a blessing till there is no space.

11 I will speak sharp words to the destroyer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground. And your vine in the field will be sure to give its grapes,” says the Lord of All.

And I have pushed for you against the consumer, And He doth not destroy to you the fruit of the ground, Nor miscarry to you doth the vine in the field, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

12 “ All the nations will say that much good has come to you, for you will be a happy land,” says the Lord of All. The People Complain

And declared you happy have all the nations, For ye are a delightful land, said Jehovah of Hosts.

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

Hard against Me have been your words, Said Jehovah, and ye have said: `What have we spoken against Thee?'

14 Y ou have said, ‘It is of no worth to serve God. What do we get by doing what He says, or by walking in sorrow before the Lord of All?

Ye have said, `A vain thing to serve God! And what gain when we kept His charge? And when we have gone in black, Because of Jehovah of Hosts?

15 S o now we say that it is good to be proud. Not only are sinners doing well, but they put God to the test and get away with it.’” The Book to Be Remembered

And now, we are declaring the proud happy, Yea, built up have been those doing wickedness, Yea they have tempted God, and escape.'

16 T hen those who feared the Lord spoke often to one another, and the Lord listened to them. And the names of those who worshiped the Lord and honored Him were written down before Him in a Book to be remembered.

Then have those fearing Jehovah spoken one to another, And Jehovah doth attend and hear, And written is a book of memorial before Him Of those fearing Jehovah, And of those esteeming His name.

17 “ They will be Mine says the Lord of All, “on that day that I gather My special people. I will have loving-pity on them as a man has loving-pity on his own son who serves him.”

And they have been to Me, said Jehovah of Hosts, In the day that I am appointing -- a peculiar treasure, And I have had pity on them, As one hath pity on his son who is serving him.

18 T hen you will again see the difference between those who are right and good, and those who are sinful. You will see the difference between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

And ye have turned back and considered, Between the righteous and the wicked, Between the servant of God and him who is not His servant.