Malachi 2:10-3:18

English Standard Version

Judah Profaned the Covenant

¹⁰ Have we not all ^(A)one Father? Has not ^(B)one God created us? Why then are we ^(C)faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹ Judah has been ^(D)faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For ^(E)Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹² May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant^[a] of the man who does this, who ^(F)brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³ And this second thing you do. ^(G)You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ^14 (H)But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ^(I)was witness between you and the wife of your youth, ^(J)to whom ^(K)you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ^15 (L)Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?^[b] And what was the one God^[c] seeking?^{[d] (M)}Godly offspring. So guard yourselves^[e] in your spirit, and let none of you be ^(N)faithless to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ “For ^(O)the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,^[f] says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers^[g] his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and ^(P)do not be faithless.”

The Messenger of the Lord

^17 (Q)You have wearied the Lord with your words. ^(R)But you say, “How have we wearied him?” ^(S)By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, ^(T)“Where is the God of justice?”

3 ^(U)“Behold, I send ^(V)my messenger, and ^(W)he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^(X)whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^(Y)the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But ^(Z)who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For ^(AA)he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ³ He will sit ^(AB)as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring ^(AC)offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^{[h] 4 (AD)}Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be ^(AE)a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those ^(AF)who oppress the hired worker in his wages, ^(AG)the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Robbing God

⁶ “For ^(AH)I the Lord do not change; ^(AI)therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ^7 (AJ)From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. ^(AK)Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^(AL)But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. ^(AM)But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ ^(AN)In your tithes and contributions. ^9 (AO)You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ^10 (AP)Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby ^(AQ)put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open ^(AR)the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹ I will rebuke ^(AS)the devourer^[i] for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. ¹² Then ^(AT)all nations will call you blessed, for you will be ^(AU)a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

^13 (AV)“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. ^(AW)But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ^(AX)‘It is vain to serve God. ^(AY)What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? ¹⁵ And now we call ^(AZ)the arrogant blessed. ^(BA)Evildoers not only prosper but ^(BB)they put God to the test and they escape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord ^(BC)spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and ^(BD)a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ¹⁷ “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, ^(BE)in the day when I make up ^(BF)my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸ Then once more you shall ^(BG)see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.