Mal 3 | NASB2020 | STEP | “ Behold , I am sending My messenger , and he will clear a way before Me. And the Lord , whom you are seeking , will suddenly come to His temple ; and the messenger of the covenant , in whom you delight , behold , He is coming ,” says the Lord of armies .

Malachi 3

The Purifier

1 “ ^aBehold, I am sending ^bMy ^{▼▼Or angel}messenger, and he will ^dclear a way before Me. And the Lord, whom you are seeking, will suddenly come to His temple; ^{▼▼Or that is, the}and the ^{▼▼Or angel
,} ^gmessenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of armies. 2 “But who can ^hendure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ⁱrefiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap. 3 And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will ^jpurify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^kpresent to the Lord ^{▼▼Or grain offerings}offerings in righteousness. 4 Then the ^{▼▼Or grain offering}offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ⁿpleasing to the Lord as in the ^odays of old, and as in former years.

5 “Then I will come near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the ^psorcerers, the ^qadulterers, against those who ^rswear falsely, those who ^{▼▼Or exploit}oppress the ^twage earner in his wages or the ^uwidow or the ^{▼▼Or fatherless}orphan, and those who turn away the ^wstranger from justice and do not ^{▼▼Or revere}fear Me,” says the Lord of armies. 6 “For ^{▼▼Or I am the Lord; I do not}I, the Lord, ^zdo not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.

7 “From the ^aadays of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. ^abReturn to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You Have Robbed God

8 “Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In ^actithes and ^{▼▼Or contributions}offerings. 9 You are ^aecursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the entire nation of you! 10 ^afBring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not ^agopen for you the windows of heaven and ^ahpour out for you a blessing until ^{▼▼Or there is not room enough
,} ^ajit overflows. 11 Then I will rebuke the ^akdevourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruit of your ground; nor will the vine in the field prove fruitless to you,” says the Lord of armies. 12 “ ^alAll the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a ^amdelightful land,” says the Lord of armies.

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 ^aopointless to serve God; and what ^apbenefit is it for us that we have done what He required, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of armies? 15 So now we ^aqcall the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also put God to the test and ^arescape punishment.’”

The Book of Remembrance

16 Then those who ^{▼▼Or revere(d)}feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord ^atlistened attentively and heard it, and a ^aubook of remembrance was written before Him for those who ^{▼▼Or revere(d)}fear the Lord and esteem His name. 17 “And they will be ^awMine,” says the Lord of armies, “on the ^axday that I ^{▼▼Lit make}prepare My ^azown possession, and I will have compassion for them just as a man ^bahas compassion for his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will again ^bbdistinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.