玛拉基书 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
3 万军之耶和华说：“我要差遣我的使者为我开路。你们所寻求的主必突然来到祂的殿中。你们所期盼的那位立约的使者快要来了！” 2 然而，祂来临的日子，谁能承受得了呢？祂出现的时候，谁能站立得住呢？因为祂像炼金之火，又像漂白衣裳的碱。 3 祂要坐下来，像炼净银子的人那样洁净利未的子孙，像熬炼金银一样熬炼他们，使他们凭公义向耶和华献祭。 4 这样，犹大和耶路撒冷所献的祭物就会蒙耶和华悦纳，如同以往的日子、从前的岁月。
5 万军之耶和华说：“我要来到你们当中施行审判，速速作证指控那些行邪术的、通奸的、起假誓的、克扣工人薪水的、欺压寡妇孤儿的、冤枉异乡人的，以及不敬畏我的。
十分之一奉献
6 “我耶和华永恒不变，所以你们这些雅各的子孙才没有灭绝。” 7 万军之耶和华说：“从你们祖先开始，你们就常常偏离我的律例，不肯遵从。现在你们要转向我，我就转向你们。可是你们竟然说，‘我们怎么转向你呢？’ 8 人怎可抢夺上帝的东西呢？可是你们不但抢夺我的东西，还说，‘我们在何事上抢过你的东西呢？’
“你们在十分之一的奉献和其他供物上抢夺我的东西。 9 举国上下都是如此，所以你们必受咒诅。” 10 万军之耶和华说：“你们要把当纳的十分之一全部送到我的仓库，使我的殿中有粮。你们这样试试，看我会不会为你们打开天上的窗户，把祝福倾倒给你们，直到无处可容。” 11 万军之耶和华说：“我必为你们驱除害虫，不许它们毁坏你们地里的出产，你们田间的葡萄必不会未熟先落。” 12 万军之耶和华说：“万国必称你们为有福的，因为这地方必成为一片乐土。”
13 耶和华说：“你们出言毁谤我，还问，‘我们怎么毁谤你了？’ 14 你们说，‘事奉上帝是虚空的。遵从上帝的吩咐，在万军之耶和华面前痛悔有什么益处？ 15 如今我们称狂傲的人有福，因为作恶的人凡事顺利，他们虽然试探上帝，却仍能逃过灾祸。’”
16 那时，敬畏耶和华的彼此交谈，耶和华必留心倾听，祂面前的纪念册上记录着敬畏祂和尊崇祂名的人。 17 万军之耶和华说：“到我所定的日子，他们必成为我宝贵的产业，我要怜悯他们，如同父亲怜悯他的孝顺儿子。 18 那时，你们将再度看出义人与恶人之间的区别，事奉上帝者和不事奉上帝者之间的不同。
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.”
Malachi 3
Good News Translation
3 (A)The Lord Almighty answers, “I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant.”
2 (B)But who will be able to endure the day when he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. 3 He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver. As a metalworker refines silver and gold, so the Lord's messenger will purify the priests, so that they will bring to the Lord the right kind of offerings. 4 Then the offerings which the people of Judah and Jerusalem bring to the Lord will be pleasing to him, as they used to be in the past.
5 The Lord Almighty says, “I will appear among you to judge, and I will testify at once against those who practice magic, against adulterers, against those who give false testimony, those who cheat employees out of their wages, and those who take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners—against all who do not respect me.
The Payment of Tithes
6 (C)“I am the Lord, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost. 7 You, like your ancestors before you, have turned away from my laws and have not kept them. Turn back to me, and I will turn to you. But you ask, ‘What must we do to turn back to you?’ 8 I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. ‘How?’ you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. 9 A curse is on all of you because the whole nation is cheating me. 10 (D)Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things. 11 I will not let insects destroy your crops, and your grapevines will be loaded with grapes. 12 Then the people of all nations will call you happy, because your land will be a good place to live.
God's Promise of Mercy
13 “You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘What have we said about you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It's useless to serve God. What's the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the Lord Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done? 15 As we see it, proud people are the ones who are happy. Evil people not only prosper, but they test God's patience with their evil deeds and get away with it.’”
16 Then the people who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the Lord and respected him. 17 “They will be my people,” says the Lord Almighty. “On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them. 18 Once again my people will see the difference between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the person who serves me and the one who does not.”
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
