Malachi 3

Modern

Literal

I Will Send My Messenger

¹“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me.^a Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹“Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will prepare the way before My face. And suddenly he will come to His temple—the Lord whom you are seeking, the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says YHWH of Hosts.

²But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.

²And who will be enduring the day of His coming? And who will be standing during His appearing? For He is like the fire of a refiner, and like the soap of those laundering.

³And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

³And He will sit as One refining and purifying silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi, and He will refine them like gold and silver, and they will be unto YHWH ones bringing forward an offering in righteousness.

⁴Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.

⁴And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to YHWH, as in the days of old, and as in years former.

⁵“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

⁵“And I will come near to you for the judgment, and I will be a witness making haste against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those swearing to a lie, and against those oppressing the wage of the hireling, the widow and the fatherless, and against those stretching away a sojourner, and not they do fear me,” says YHWH of Hosts.

Robbing God

⁶“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

⁶“For I, YHWH, do not change; and you, sons of Jacob, have not been consumed.

⁷Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts.

“But you ask, ‘How can we return?’

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 YHWH of Hosts. “And you say, ‘In what way can we return?’

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!

But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’

In tithes and offerings.

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. And you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In the tithe and the contribution.

⁹You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.

⁹With a curse you are cursed, and you are robbing Me—the nation—all of it.

¹⁰Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.^a

¹⁰Bring all the tithe into the house of treasure, that there may be food in My house. And test Me now in this,” says YHWH of Hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of the heavens and pour out for you blessing until there is no space!

¹¹I will rebuke the devourer^a for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹¹And I will rebuke for you the devourer, and it will not destroy for you the fruit of the ground, and the vine in the field will not be barren for you,” says YHWH of Hosts.

¹²“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹²“And all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says YHWH of Hosts.

The Book of Remembrance

¹³“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

¹³“Your words have been strong against Me,” says YHWH. “And you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

¹⁴You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?

¹⁴You have said, ‘To serve God is futile! What gain is that we have kept His charge, that we have walked as mourners before the face of YHWH of Hosts?

¹⁵So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”

¹⁵And now we call blessed the arrogant. Also are raised up those doing wickedness; they even test God and escape.’”

¹⁶At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name.

¹⁶Then those who feared YHWH spoke, each man with his neighbor. And YHWH listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those fearing YHWH, and for those esteeming His name.

¹⁷“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.

¹⁷“And they will be unto Me,” says YHWH of Hosts, “On the day when I am making a treasured possession; and I will have compassion on them, as when a man has compassion on his son, the one serving him.

¹⁸So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

¹⁸And you will return and see between the righteous one the wicked one, between the one serving God and between the one who does not serve Him.”