Malachi 2:17-3:6

New International Version

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

¹⁷You have wearied^(A) the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.^(B)

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased^(C) with them” or “Where is the God of justice?^(D)”

3 “I will send my messenger,^(E) who will prepare the way before me.^(F) Then suddenly the Lord^(G) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(H) whom you desire,^(I) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

²But who can endure^(J) the day of his coming?^(K) Who can stand^(L) when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire^(M) or a launderer’s soap.^(N) ³He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;^(O) he will purify^(P) the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.^(Q) Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,^(R) ⁴and the offerings^(S) of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.^(T)

⁵“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,^(U) adulterers^(V) and perjurers,^(W) against those who defraud laborers of their wages,^(X) who oppress the widows^(Y) and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners^(Z) among you of justice, but do not fear^(AA) me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

⁶“I the Lord do not change.^(AB) So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.^(AC)

Psalm 73

New International Version

BOOK III

Psalms 73–89

Psalm 73

A psalm of Asaph.

¹Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.^(A)

²But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;^(B)
I had nearly lost my foothold.^(C)
³For I envied^(D) the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.^(E)

⁴They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.^[a]
⁵They are free^(F) from common human burdens;
    they are not plagued by human ills.
⁶Therefore pride^(G) is their necklace;^(H)
    they clothe themselves with violence.^(I)
⁷From their callous hearts^(J) comes iniquity^[b];
    their evil imaginations have no limits.
⁸They scoff, and speak with malice;^(K)
    with arrogance^(L) they threaten oppression.^(M)
⁹Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
    and their tongues take possession of the earth.
¹⁰Therefore their people turn to them
    and drink up waters in abundance.^[c]
¹¹They say, “How would God know?
    Does the Most High know anything?”

¹²This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care,^(N) they go on amassing wealth.^(O)

¹³Surely in vain^(P) I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.^(Q)
¹⁴All day long I have been afflicted,^(R)
and every morning brings new punishments.

¹⁵If I had spoken out like that,
    I would have betrayed your children.
¹⁶When I tried to understand^(S) all this,
    it troubled me deeply
¹⁷till I entered the sanctuary^(T) of God;
    then I understood their final destiny.^(U)

¹⁸Surely you place them on slippery ground;^(V)
    you cast them down to ruin.^(W)
¹⁹How suddenly^(X) are they destroyed,
    completely swept away^(Y) by terrors!
²⁰They are like a dream^(Z) when one awakes;^(AA)
    when you arise, Lord,
    you will despise them as fantasies.^(AB)

²¹When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
²²I was senseless^(AC) and ignorant;
I was a brute beast^(AD) before you.

²³Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.^(AE)
²⁴You guide^(AF) me with your counsel,^(AG)
    and afterward you will take me into glory.
²⁵Whom have I in heaven but you?^(AH)
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.^(AI)
²⁶My flesh and my heart^(AJ) may fail,^(AK)
    but God is the strength^(AL) of my heart
    and my portion^(AM) forever.

²⁷Those who are far from you will perish;^(AN)
    you destroy all who are unfaithful^(AO) to you.
²⁸But as for me, it is good to be near God.^(AP)
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;^(AQ)
    I will tell of all your deeds.^(AR)

Footnotes

Psalm 73:4 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text struggles at their death; / their bodies are healthy
Psalm 73:7 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew Their eyes bulge with fat
Psalm 73:10 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

2 Corinthians 2:14

New International Version

¹⁴But thanks be to God,^(A) who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma^(B) of the knowledge^(C) of him everywhere.

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2 Corinthians 2:14 in all English translations