Malachi 3
3
1“See, I am going to send My messenger, # Ex 23:20; 33:2; 2Ch 36:15-16 and he will clear the way before Me. # Is 40:3; Mk 1:2; Lk 1:76 Then the Lord you seek # Hs 5:6 will suddenly come to His temple, # Ps 24:7-10 the Messenger of the covenant you desire — see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts. 2But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? # Rv 6:17 For He will be like a refiner’s fire # Dt 4:24; Is 1:25; Zch 13:9 and like cleansing lye. # Jr 2:22 3He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. # Ps 12:6; Pr 17:3; Ezk 22:22 Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old # Am 9:11 and years gone by.
5“I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. # Ex 20:14,16; 22:18-24; Dt 18:10; 24:14,17; Jr 5:2,7; 7:6,9 They do not fear Me,” # Dt 10:17-20; Mal 2:5 says the Lord of Hosts. 6“Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, # Nm 23:19; 1Sm 15:29; Ps 33:11; 119:89-91; Rm 11:29; Heb 6:17-18; Jms 1:17 you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. # Ps 124; Hs 11:9
Robbing God
7“Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from My statutes; you have not kept them. # Jos 1:7; 23:6; 1Kg 8:58; 2Kg 17:15; Ezr 9:7; Am 2:4; Mal 2:8 Return to Me, # Dt 4:30; 30:2; 2Ch 30:6,9; Is 55:7; Jl 2:13; Zch 1:3 and I will return to you,” # 1Kg 8:33; Jr 15:19; 24:7 says the Lord of Hosts.
But you ask: “How can we return? ”
8“Will a man rob # Pr 22:22-23 God? Yet you are robbing Me! ”
You ask: “How do we rob You? ”
“By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. # Lv 7:14,32-33; 27:30-32; Nm 18:8-24; Dt 12:5-19; 14:22-29; 26:12 9You are suffering under a curse, yet you — the whole nation — are still robbing Me. 10Bring the full tenth into the storehouse # Jos 6:19,24; 1Kg 7:51 so that there may be food in My house. # 2Ch 31:4-10; Neh 10:34-39; Ezk 44:28-31 Test Me in this way,” # Ex 4:1-9; Jdg 6:36-40 says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven # Gn 7:11; 8:2; Dt 11:16-17 and pour out a blessing for you without measure. # Dt 28:12; Is 41:18-20; Jl 2:18-32; Am 9:13-15 11I will rebuke the devourer # Perhaps locusts # Jl 1:4; 2:25 for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the Lord of Hosts. 12“Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of Hosts.
The Righteous and the Wicked
13“Your words against Me are harsh,” # Ps 119:23; Ezk 35:13 says the Lord.
Yet you ask: “What have we spoken against You? ”
14You have said: “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements # Lv 8:35; Dt 11:1 and walking mournfully # Ps 35:14; 38:6 before the Lord of Hosts? 15So now we consider the arrogant # Ps 119:21,85; Is 13:11; Jr 43:2 to be fortunate. # Gn 30:13; Ps 72:17; Pr 31:28 Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God # Ps 78:18,41,56; 95:9 and escape.” # Ezk 17:15
16At that time those who feared the Lord spoke to one another. The Lord took notice and listened. So a book of remembrance # Ex 32:32; Est 6:1; Dn 12:1 was written before Him for those who feared Yahweh and had high regard for His name. 17“They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, # Ex 19:5; Dt 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4 “a special possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. # Ps 103:13; Jl 2:18; Zch 11:5-6 18So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
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Malachi 3: HCSB
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Malachi 3
3
The Coming of the Messenger of the Promise
1“I’m going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way ahead of me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the promise #3:1 Or “covenant.” will come. He is the one you want,” says the Lord of Armies.
2But who will be able to endure the day he comes? Who will be able to survive on the day he appears? He is like a purifying fire and like a cleansing soap. 3He will act like a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify Levi’s sons and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will bring acceptable offerings to the Lord. 4The offerings from Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the past, as in years long ago.
5“I will come to judge you. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers, lying witnesses, and those who cheat workers out of their wages and oppress widows and orphans. I will also testify against those who deprive foreigners of their rights. None of them fear me,” says the Lord of Armies.
The People Are Cheating God
6“I, the Lord, never change. That is why you descendants of Jacob haven’t been destroyed yet. 7Since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my laws and have not followed them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Armies.
“But you ask, ‘How can we return?’
8“Can a person cheat God? Yet, you are cheating me!
“But you ask, ‘How are we cheating you?’
“When ⌞you don’t bring⌟ a tenth of your income and other contributions. 9So a curse is on you because the whole nation is cheating me!
10“Bring one-tenth of your income into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,” says the Lord of Armies. “See if I won’t open the windows of heaven for you and flood you with blessings. 11Then, for your sake, I will stop insects from eating ⌞your crops⌟. They will not destroy the produce of your land. The vines in your fields will not lose their unripened grapes,” says the Lord of Armies. 12“All nations will call you blessed because you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of Armies.
13“You have used harsh words against me,” says the Lord.
“You ask, ‘How have we spoken against you?’
14“You have said, ‘It’s pointless to serve God. What do we gain if we meet his standards or if we walk around feeling sorry for what we’ve done? 15So now we call arrogant people blessed. Not only are evildoers encouraged, they even test God and get away with it.’ ”
16Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord paid attention and listened. A book was written in his presence to be a reminder to those who feared the Lord and respected his name.
17“They will be mine,” says the Lord of Armies. “On that day I will make them my special possession. I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18Then you will again see the difference between righteous people and wicked people, between the one who serves God and the one who doesn’t serve him.
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