Mal 3 | NASB1995 | STEP | “ Behold , I am going to send My messenger , and he will clear 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 , behold , He is coming ,” says the Lord of hosts .

Malachi 3

The Purifier

1 ^a“Behold, I am going to send ^bMy ^{▼▼ Or angel}messenger, and he will ^{▼▼ Or prepare
,} ^eclear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; ^{▼▼ Or even}and the ^{▼▼ Or angel
,} ^hmessenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. 2 “But who can ⁱendure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^jrefiner’s fire and like ^{▼▼ Lit laundrymen’s}fullers’ soap. 3 “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will ^lpurify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^mpresent to the Lord ^{▼▼ Or grain offerings}offerings in righteousness. 4 “Then the ^{▼▼ Or grain offering}offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ^ppleasing to the Lord as in the ^qdays 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 ^rsorcerers and against the ^sadulterers and against those who ^tswear falsely, and against those who oppress the ^uwage earner in his wages, the ^vwidow and the ^{▼▼ Or fatherless}orphan, and those who turn aside the ^{▼▼ Or sojourner
,} ^yalien and do not ^{▼▼ Or revere}fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts. 6 “For ^{▼▼ Or I am the Lord ; I do not}I, the Lord, ^abdo not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, ^{▼▼ Or have not come to an end}are not consumed.

7 “From the ^addays of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. ^aeReturn 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 ^{▼▼ Or defraud}rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In ^agtithes and ^{▼▼ Or heave offerings}offerings. 9 “You are ^aicursed with a curse, for you are ^{▼▼ Or defrauding}robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 10 ^ak“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be ^{▼▼ Lit prey}food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not ^amopen for you the windows of heaven and ^anpour out for you a blessing until ^{▼▼ Or there is not room enough
,} ^apit overflows. 11 “Then I will rebuke the ^aqdevourer for you, so that it will not ^{▼▼ Lit ruin}destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. 12 ^as“All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a ^atdelightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

13 “Your words have been ^{▼▼ Lit strong}arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 “You have said, ‘It is ^avvain to serve God; and what ^awprofit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15 ‘So now we ^axcall the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and ^ayescape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

16 Then those who ^{▼▼ Or revere(d)}feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord ^bagave attention and heard it, and a ^bbbook of remembrance was written before Him for those who ^{▼▼ Or revere(d)}fear the Lord and who esteem His name. 17 “They will be ^bdMine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the ^beday that I ^{▼▼ Lit make}prepare My ^{▼▼ Or special treasure
,} ^bhown possession, and I will ^{▼▼ Or have (has) compassion on}spare them as a man ^{▼▼ Or have (has) compassion on
,} ^bkspares his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will again ^bldistinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.