Malachi 2:10-3:15

New King James Version

Treachery of Infidelity

¹⁰^(A)Have we not all one Father?
^(B)Has not one God created us?
Why do we deal treacherously with one another
By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
¹¹Judah has dealt treacherously,
And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,
For Judah has ^(C)profaned
The Lord’s holy institution which He loves:
He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
¹²May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob
The man who does this, being ^[a]awake and aware,
Yet ^(D)who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³And this is the second thing you do:
You cover the altar of the Lord with tears,
With weeping and crying;
So He does not regard the offering anymore,
Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
¹⁴Yet you say, “For what reason?”
Because the Lord has been witness
Between you and ^(E)the wife of your youth,
With whom you have dealt treacherously;
^(F)Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant.
¹⁵But ^(G)did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks ^(H)godly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

¹⁶“For ^(I)the Lord God of Israel says
That He hates divorce,
For it covers one’s garment with violence,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Therefore take heed to your spirit,
That you do not deal treacherously.”

¹⁷^(J)You have wearied the Lord with your words;
Yet you say,
“In what way have we wearied Him?”
In that you say,
^(K)“Everyone who does evil
Is good in the sight of the Lord,
And He delights in them,”
Or, “Where is the God of justice?”

The Coming Messenger

3 “Behold, ^(L)I send My messenger,
And he will ^(M)prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
^(N)Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, ^(O)He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

²“But who can endure ^(P)the day of His coming?
And ^(Q)who can stand when He appears?
For ^(R)He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
³^(S)He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And ^[b]purge them as gold and silver,
That they may ^(T)offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.

⁴“Then ^(U)the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be ^[c]pleasant to the Lord,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.
⁵And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
^(V)Against perjurers,
Against those who ^(W)exploit wage earners and ^(X)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, ^(Y)I do not change;
^(Z)Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
⁷Yet from the days of ^(AA)your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
^(AB)Return to Me, and I will return to you,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
^(AC)“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?’
^(AD)In tithes and offerings.
⁹You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
¹⁰^(AE)Bring all the tithes into the ^(AF)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 ^(AG)windows of heaven
And ^(AH)pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.

¹¹“And I will rebuke ^(AI)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 ^(AJ)a delightful land,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

The People Complain Harshly

¹³“Your^(AK) words have been ^[d]harsh against Me,”
Says the Lord,
“Yet you say,
‘What have we spoken against You?’
¹⁴^(AL)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?
¹⁵So now ^(AM)we call the proud blessed,
For those who do wickedness are ^[e]raised up;
They even ^(AN)tempt God and go free.’ ”