[1] "Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord
whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the
covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
[2] But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he
appears? "For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; [3] he
will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons
of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right
offerings to the LORD. [4] Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be
pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. [5]
"Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be a swift witness
against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear
falsely, against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and
the orphan, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear
me, says the LORD of hosts. [6] "For I the LORD do not change; therefore
you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. [7] From 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 the LORD of hosts. But you say, `How
shall we return?' [8] Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you
say, `How are we robbing thee?' In your tithes and offerings. [9] You are
cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the whole nation of you. [10]
Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my
house; and thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will
not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing
blessing. [11] I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not
destroy the fruits of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not fail
to bear, says the LORD of hosts. [12] Then all nations will call you
blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts. [13]
"Your words have been stout against me, says the LORD. Yet you say, `How
have we spoken against thee?' [14] You have said, `It is vain to serve God.
What is the good of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning
before the LORD of hosts? [15] Henceforth we deem the arrogant blessed;
evildoers not only prosper but when they put God to the test they escape.'"
[16] Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another; the LORD heeded
and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those
who feared the LORD and thought on his name. [17] "They shall be mine, says
the LORD of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will
spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. [18] Then once more you
shall distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who
serves God and one who does not serve him.
