Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

¹⁷ You 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.

² But 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) 3} He 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) 4} and 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.

The Faithful Remnant

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.^(A) A scroll^(B) of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared^(C) the Lord and honored his name.

¹⁷ “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my^(D) treasured possession.^(E) I will spare^(F) them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son^(G) who serves him. ¹⁸ And you will again see the distinction between the righteous^(H) and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.^(I)

Judgment and Covenant Renewal

4 ^[a]“Surely the day is coming;^(J) it will burn like a furnace.^(K) All the arrogant^(L) and every evildoer will be stubble,^(M) and the day that is coming will set them on fire,^(N)” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch^(O) will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name,^(P) the sun of righteousness^(Q) will rise with healing^(R) in its rays. And you will go out and frolic^(S) like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample^(T) on the wicked; they will be ashes^(U) under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

⁴ “Remember the law^(V) of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb^(W) for all Israel.^(X)

⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah^(Y) to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.^{(Z) 6} He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children,^(AA) and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike^(AB) the land with total destruction.”^(AC)