The Purifier

3 “^(A)Behold, I am sending ^(B)My ^[a]messenger, and he will ^(C)clear a way before Me. And the Lord, whom you are seeking, will suddenly come to His temple; ^[b]and the ^[c](D)messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of armies. ² “But who can ^(E)endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^(F)refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap. ³ And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will ^(G)purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^(H)present to the Lord ^[d]offerings in righteousness. ⁴ Then the ^[e]offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ^(I)pleasing to the Lord as in the ^(J)days of old, and as in former years.

⁵ “Then I will come near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the ^(K)sorcerers, the ^(L)adulterers, against those who ^(M)swear falsely, those who ^[f]oppress the ^(N)wage earner in his wages or the ^(O)widow or the ^[g]orphan, and those who turn away the ^(P)stranger from justice and do not ^[h]fear Me,” says the Lord of armies. ⁶ “For ^[i]I, the Lord, ^(Q)do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.

⁷ “From the ^(R)days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. ^(S)Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You Have Robbed God

⁸ “Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In ^(T)tithes and ^[j]offerings. ⁹ You are ^(U)cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the entire nation of you! ^10 (V)Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not ^(W)open for you the windows of heaven and ^(X)pour out for you a blessing until ^[k](Y)it overflows. ¹¹ Then I will rebuke the ^(Z)devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruit of your ground; nor will the vine in the field prove fruitless to you,” says the Lord of armies. ¹² “^(AA)All the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a ^(AB)delightful land,” says the Lord of armies.

¹³ “Your words have been ^[l]arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ‘It is ^(AC)pointless to serve God; and what ^(AD)benefit is it for us that we have done what He required, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of armies? ¹⁵ So now we ^(AE)call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also put God to the test and ^(AF)escape punishment.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who ^[m]feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord ^(AG)listened attentively and heard it, and a ^(AH)book of remembrance was written before Him for those who ^[n]fear the Lord and esteem His name. ¹⁷ “And they will be ^(AI)Mine,” says the Lord of armies, “on the ^(AJ)day that I ^[o]prepare My ^(AK)own possession, and I will have compassion for them just as a man ^(AL)has compassion for his own son who serves him.” ¹⁸ So you will again ^(AM)distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

Final Admonition

4 “^[p]For behold, the day is coming, ^(AN)burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be ^(AO)chaff; and the day that is coming will ^(AP)set them ablaze,” says the Lord of armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branches. ² But for you who ^[q]fear My name, the ^(AQ)sun of righteousness will rise with ^(AR)healing in its wings; and you will go forth and ^(AS)frolic like calves from the stall. ³ And you will ^(AT)crush the wicked underfoot, for they will be ^(AU)ashes under the soles of your feet ^(AV)on the day ^[r]that I am preparing,” says the Lord of armies.

⁴ “^(AW)Remember the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

⁵ “Behold, I am going to send you ^(AX)Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. ⁶ He will ^(AY)turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and ^(AZ)strike the land with complete destruction.”

The River and the Tree of Life

22 And ^(A)he showed me a ^(B)river of the ^(C)water of life, ^[a]clear ^(D)as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of ^[b]the Lamb, ² in the middle of ^(E)its street. ^(F)On either side of the river was ^(G)the tree of life, bearing twelve ^[c]kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ^3 (H)There will no longer be any curse; and ^(I)the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will ^(J)serve Him; ⁴ they will ^(K)see His face, and His ^(L)name will be on their ^(M)foreheads. ⁵ And ^(N)there will no longer be any night; and they ^[d]will not have need ^(O)of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will ^(P)reign forever and ever.

⁶ And ^(Q)he said to me, “^(R)These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the ^(S)God of the spirits of the prophets, ^(T)sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

⁷ “And behold, ^(U)I am coming quickly. ^(V)Blessed is the one who ^[e]keeps ^(W)the words of the prophecy of this book.”

^8 (X)I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, ^(Y)I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. ⁹ And ^(Z)he *said to me, “^[f]Do not do that; I am a ^(AA)fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who ^[g]keep the words of ^(AB)this book. Worship God!”

The Final Message

¹⁰ And he *said to me, “^(AC)Do not seal up ^(AD)the words of the prophecy of this book, ^(AE)for the time is near. ^11 (AF)Let the one who does wrong still do wrong, and the one who is filthy still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous still practice righteousness, and the one who is holy still keep himself holy.”

¹² “Behold, ^(AG)I am coming quickly, and My ^(AH)reward is with Me, ^(AI)to reward each one as his work ^[h]deserves. ¹³ I am the ^(AJ)Alpha and the Omega, ^(AK)the first and the last, ^(AL)the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴ Blessed are those who ^(AM)wash their robes, so that they will have the right to ^(AN)the tree of life, and may ^(AO)enter the city by the ^(AP)gates. ^15 (AQ)Outside are the ^(AR)dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

¹⁶ “^(AS)I, Jesus, have sent ^(AT)My angel to testify to you of these things ^[i](AU)for the churches. I am ^(AV)the root and the ^(AW)descendant of David, the bright ^(AX)morning star.”

¹⁷ The ^(AY)Spirit and the ^(AZ)bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And ^(BA)let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the ^(BB)water of life without cost.

¹⁸ I testify to everyone who hears ^(BC)the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone ^(BD)adds to them, God will add to him ^(BE)the plagues that are written in ^(BF)this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone ^(BG)takes away from the ^(BH)words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from ^(BI)the tree of life and ^[j]from the holy city, ^(BJ)which are written in this book.

²⁰ He who ^(BK)testifies to these things says, “Yes, ^(BL)I am coming quickly.” Amen. ^(BM)Come, Lord Jesus.

^21 (BN)The grace of the Lord Jesus be with ^[k]all. Amen.

A Psalm of Praise.