3 ^(A)“Behold, I send ^(B)my messenger, and ^(C)he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^(D)whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^(E)the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But ^(F)who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For ^(G)he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ³ He will sit ^(H)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 ^(I)offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^{[a] 4 (J)}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 ^(K)a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those ^(L)who oppress the hired worker in his wages, ^(M)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 ^(N)I the Lord do not change; ^(O)therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ^7 (P)From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. ^(Q)Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^(R)But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. ^(S)But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ ^(T)In your tithes and contributions. ^9 (U)You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ^10 (V)Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby ^(W)put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open ^(X)the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹ I will rebuke ^(Y)the devourer^[b] 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 ^(Z)all nations will call you blessed, for you will be ^(AA)a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

^13 (AB)“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. ^(AC)But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ^(AD)‘It is vain to serve God. ^(AE)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 ^(AF)the arrogant blessed. ^(AG)Evildoers not only prosper but ^(AH)they put God to the test and they escape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord ^(AI)spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and ^(AJ)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, ^(AK)in the day when I make up ^(AL)my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸ Then once more you shall ^(AM)see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

The Great Day of the Lord

4 ^[c] “For behold, ^(AN)the day is coming, ^(AO)burning like an oven, when ^(AP)all the arrogant and ^(AQ)all evildoers ^(AR)will be stubble. The day that is coming ^(AS)shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ² But for you ^(AT)who fear my name, ^(AU)the sun ^(AV)of righteousness shall rise ^(AW)with healing in its wings. You shall go out ^(AX)leaping like calves from the stall. ³ And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, ^(AY)on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

^4 (AZ)“Remember ^(BA)the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules^[d] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

^5 (BB)“Behold, I will send you ^(BC)Elijah the prophet ^(BD)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶ And he will ^(BE)turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^(BF)strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”^[e]

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had ^(A)a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ² And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your ^(B)management, for you can no longer be manager.’ ³ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He said, ‘A hundred measures^[a] of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures^[b] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸ The master commended the dishonest manager for his ^(C)shrewdness. For ^(D)the sons of this world^[c] are ^(E)more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than ^(F)the sons of light. ⁹ And I tell you, ^(G)make friends for yourselves by means of ^(H)unrighteous wealth,^[d] so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

^10 (I)“One who is ^(J)faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹ If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful in ^(K)that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? ^13 (L)No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

The Law and the Kingdom of God

^14 (M)The Pharisees, who were ^(N)lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ^(O)ridiculed him. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “You are those who ^(P)justify yourselves before men, but ^(Q)God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men ^(R)is an abomination in the sight of God.

^16 (S)“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then ^(T)the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and ^(U)everyone forces his way into it.^{[e] 17} But ^(V)it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^(A)into the wilderness to see? ^(B)A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ What then did you go out to see? A man^[a] dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? ^(C)A prophet?^[b] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written,

¹¹ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ^12 (E)From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^[c] and the violent take it by force. ^13 (F)For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, ¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it, he is ^(G)Elijah who is to come. ^15 (H)He who has ears to hear,^[d] let him hear.