Malachi 3
Contemporary English Version
The Promised Messenger
3 (A) I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will send my messenger
to prepare the way for me.
Then suddenly the Lord
you are looking for
will appear in his temple.
The messenger you desire
is coming with my promise,
and he is on his way.
A Day of Change
2 (B) On the day the Lord comes, he will be like a furnace that purifies silver or like strong soap in a washbasin. No one will be able to stand up to him. 3 The Lord will purify the descendants of Levi,[a] as though they were gold or silver. Then they will bring the proper offerings to the Lord, 4 and the offerings of the people of Judah and Jerusalem will please him, just as they did in the past.
Don't Cheat God
5 The Lord All-Powerful said:
I'm now on my way to judge you. And I will quickly condemn all who practice witchcraft or cheat in marriage or tell lies in court or rob workers of their pay or mistreat widows and orphans or steal the property of foreigners or refuse to respect me.
6 (C) Descendants of Jacob, I am the Lord All-Powerful, and I never change. That's why you haven't been wiped out, 7 even though you have ignored and disobeyed my laws ever since the time of your ancestors. But if you return to me, I will return to you.
And yet you ask, “How can we return?”
8 You people are robbing me, your God. And, here you are, asking, “How are we robbing you?”
You are robbing me of the offerings and of the ten percent that belongs to me.[b] 9 That's why your whole nation is under a curse. 10 (D) I am the Lord All-Powerful, and I challenge you to put me to the test. Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse, so there will be food in my house. Then I will open the windows of heaven and flood you with blessing after blessing.[c] 11 I will also stop locusts[d] from destroying your crops and keeping your vineyards from producing. 12 Everyone of every nation will talk about how I have blessed you and about your wonderful land. I, the Lord All-Powerful, have spoken!
13 You have said horrible things about me, and yet you ask, “What have we said?”
14 Here is what you have said: “It's foolish to serve the Lord God All-Powerful. What do we get for obeying God and from going around looking sad? 15 See how happy those arrogant people are. Everyone who does wrong is successful, and when they put God to the test, they always get away with it.”
Faithfulness Is Rewarded
16 All those who truly respected the Lord and honored his name started discussing these things, and when God saw what was happening, he had their names[e] written as a reminder in his book.
17 Then the Lord All-Powerful said:
You people are precious to me, and when I come to bring justice, I will protect you, just as parents protect an obedient child. 18 Then everyone will once again see the difference between those who obey me by doing right and those who reject me by doing wrong.
Footnotes
- 3.3 descendants of Levi: The priests.
- 3.8 the ten percent … to me: The people of Israel were supposed to give a tenth of their harvests and of their flocks and herds to the Lord (see Leviticus 27.30-33; Deuteronomy 14.22-29).
- 3.10 open the windows … blessing: This may refer to rain, since there seems to have been a terrible drought at this time.
- 3.11 locusts: A kind of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to plant life.
- 3.16 names: Or “deeds.”
瑪拉基書 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
3 萬軍之耶和華說：「我要差遣我的使者為我開路。你們所尋求的主必突然來到祂的殿中。你們所期盼的那位立約的使者快要來了！」 2 然而，祂來臨的日子，誰能承受得了呢？祂出現的時候，誰能站立得住呢？因為祂像煉金之火，又像漂白衣裳的鹼。 3 祂要坐下來，像煉淨銀子的人那樣潔淨利未的子孫，像熬煉金銀一樣熬煉他們，使他們憑公義向耶和華獻祭。 4 這樣，猶大和耶路撒冷所獻的祭物就會蒙耶和華悅納，如同以往的日子、從前的歲月。
5 萬軍之耶和華說：「我要來到你們當中施行審判，速速作證指控那些行邪術的、通姦的、起假誓的、克扣工人薪水的、欺壓寡婦孤兒的、冤枉異鄉人的，以及不敬畏我的。
十分之一奉獻
6 「我耶和華永恆不變，所以你們這些雅各的子孫才沒有滅絕。」 7 萬軍之耶和華說：「從你們祖先開始，你們就常常偏離我的律例，不肯遵從。現在你們要轉向我，我就轉向你們。可是你們竟然說，『我們怎麼轉向你呢？』 8 人怎可搶奪上帝的東西呢？可是你們不但搶奪我的東西，還說，『我們在何事上搶過你的東西呢？』
「你們在十分之一的奉獻和其他供物上搶奪我的東西。 9 舉國上下都是如此，所以你們必受咒詛。」 10 萬軍之耶和華說：「你們要把當納的十分之一全部送到我的倉庫，使我的殿中有糧。你們這樣試試，看我會不會為你們打開天上的窗戶，把祝福傾倒給你們，直到無處可容。」 11 萬軍之耶和華說：「我必為你們驅除害蟲，不許牠們毀壞你們地裡的出產，你們田間的葡萄必不會未熟先落。」 12 萬軍之耶和華說：「萬國必稱你們為有福的，因為這地方必成為一片樂土。」
13 耶和華說：「你們出言譭謗我，還問，『我們怎麼譭謗你了？』 14 你們說，『事奉上帝是虛空的。遵從上帝的吩咐，在萬軍之耶和華面前痛悔有什麼益處？ 15 如今我們稱狂傲的人有福，因為作惡的人凡事順利，他們雖然試探上帝，卻仍能逃過災禍。』」
16 那時，敬畏耶和華的彼此交談，耶和華必留心傾聽，祂面前的紀念冊上記錄著敬畏祂和尊崇祂名的人。 17 萬軍之耶和華說：「到我所定的日子，他們必成為我寶貴的產業，我要憐憫他們，如同父親憐憫他的孝順兒子。 18 那時，你們將再度看出義人與惡人之間的區別，事奉上帝者和不事奉上帝者之間的不同。
Malachi 3
New King James Version
The Coming Messenger
3 “Behold, (A)I send My messenger,
And he will (B)prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
(C)Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, (D)He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
2 “But who can endure (E)the day of His coming?
And (F)who can stand when He appears?
For (G)He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
3 (H)He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And [a]purge them as gold and silver,
That they may (I)offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.
4 “Then (J)the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be [b]pleasant to the Lord,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.
5 And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
(K)Against perjurers,
Against those who (L)exploit wage earners and (M)widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
6 “For I am the Lord, (N)I do not change;
(O)Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
7 Yet from the days of (P)your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
(Q)Return to Me, and I will return to you,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
(R)“But you said,
‘In what way shall we return?’
Do Not Rob God
8 “Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
(S)In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
10 (T)Bring all the tithes into the (U)storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the (V)windows of heaven
And (W)pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “And I will rebuke (X)the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the Lord of hosts;
12 “And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be (Y)a delightful land,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
The People Complain Harshly
13 “Your(Z) words have been [c]harsh against Me,”
Says the Lord,
“Yet you say,
‘What have we spoken against You?’
14 (AA)You have said,
‘It is useless to serve God;
What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance,
And that we have walked as mourners
Before the Lord of hosts?
15 So now (AB)we call the proud blessed,
For those who do wickedness are [d]raised up;
They even (AC)tempt God and go free.’ ”
A Book of Remembrance
16 Then those (AD)who feared the Lord (AE)spoke to one another,
And the Lord listened and heard them;
So (AF)a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the Lord
And who [e]meditate on His name.
17 “They(AG) shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts,
“On the day that I make them My (AH)jewels.[f]
And (AI)I will spare them
As a man spares his own son who serves him.”
18 (AJ)Then you shall again discern
Between the righteous and the wicked,
Between one who serves God
And one who does not serve Him.
Footnotes
- Malachi 3:3 Or refine
- Malachi 3:4 pleasing
- Malachi 3:13 Lit. strong
- Malachi 3:15 Lit. built
- Malachi 3:16 Or esteem
- Malachi 3:17 Lit. special treasure
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
