Malachi
Chapter 3
1 Look, I will send my messenger, and he will make the path ready for me. And God, whom you are looking for, will quickly come to his temple, the messenger of the agreement you enjoy. Look, he will come, says God of all.
2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who will be able to stand when he appears? He is like a fire that purifies and like soap that cleans.
3 He will sit like someone who cleans and refines silver; he will purify the Levi tribe members, cleaning them like gold and silver, so they can give God a righteous offering.
4 Then the gifts from Judah and Jerusalem will please God, like in the past and the old years.
5 I will come close to judge you quickly; I will testify against witches, cheaters, liars, those who cheat workers, widows, orphans, and those who deny justice to foreigners and do not respect me, says God.
6 I am God, I do not change; so you, the children of Jacob, are not destroyed.
7 Since your ancestors’ time, you have turned away from my rules and haven’t followed them. Come back to me, and I will come back to you, says God. But you asked, “How can we come back?”
8 Can a person steal from God? Yet you have stolen from me. But you ask, ‘How have we stolen from you?’ Through not giving tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse because you have robbed me, all of you.
10 Bring all your tithes to the storehouse so there will be food in my house. Test me in this, says God, and see if I don’t open the windows of heaven and pour out so many blessings you won’t have enough room for them.
11 I will stop the destroyer for you, so it won’t ruin your crops; your vine won’t drop its fruit before it’s ready, says God.
12 Every country will say you are lucky because your land will be wonderful, says God.
13 You have spoken strongly against me, says God. But you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’
14 You have said, “It’s pointless to serve God: and what do we gain from following his rules, and from walking sadly in front of God of all?”
15 We now say proud people are happy; those who do wrong succeed; those who challenge God are safe.
16 Those who respected God talked often to each other. God listened and heard them, and a book was written to remember those who respected God and thought about his name.
17 They will be mine, says God, on that day when I gather my precious ones; I will protect them, like a father protects his serving son.
18 Then you will come back and understand the difference between the good and the bad, between someone who serves God and someone who does not.