Malachi 3

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 'Look, I shal send my messenger to clear a way before me. And suddenly the Lord whom you seek wilcome to his Temple; yes, the angel of the covenant, for whom you long, is on his way, says Yahweh Sabaoth.	1 Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts.
2 Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who wil remain standing when he appears? For hewil be like a refiner's fire, like ful ers' alkali.	2 And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? and who shall stand to see him? for he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller's herb:
3 He wil take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold andsilver, so that they can make the offering to Yahweh with uprightness.	3 And he shall sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice.
4 The offering of Judah and Jerusalem wil then be acceptable to Yahweh as in former days, as in theyears of old.	4 And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years.
5 I am coming to put you on trial and I shal be a ready witness against sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers,and against those who oppress the wage-earner, the widow and the orphan, and who rob the foreigner of hisrights and do not respect me, says Yahweh Sabaoth.	5 And I will come to you in judgment, and will be a speedy witness against sorcerers, and adulterers, and false swearers, and them that oppress the hireling in his wages; the widows, and the fatherless: and oppress the stranger, and have not feared me, saith the Lord of hosts.
6 'No; I, Yahweh, do not change; and you have not ceased to be children of Jacob!	6 For I am the Lord, and I change not: and you the sons of Jacob are not consumed.
7 Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have evaded my statutes and not observed them. Return tome and I will return to you, says Yahweh Sabaoth. You ask, "How are we to return?	7 For from the days of your fathers you have departed from my ordinances, and have not kept them: Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord of hosts. And you have said: Wherein shall we return?
8 Can a human being cheat God?" Yet you try to cheat me! You ask, "How do we try to cheat you?" Overtithes and contributions.	8 Shall a man afflict God? for you afflict me. And you have said: Wherein do we afflict thee? in tithes and in firstfruits.
9 A curse lies on you because you, this whole nation, try to cheat me.	9 And you are cursed with want, and you afflict me, even the whole nation of you.
10 Bring the tithes in ful to the treasury, so that there is food in my house; put me to the test now like this,says Yahweh Sabaoth, and see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you and pour out an abundantblessing for you.	10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and try me in this, saith the Lord: if I open not unto you the flood-gates of heaven, and pour you out a blessing even to abundance.
11 For your sakes, I shal forbid the locust to destroy the produce of your soil or prevent the vine frombearing fruit in your field, says Yahweh Sabaoth,	11 And I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer, and he shall not spoil the fruit of your land: neither shall the vine in the field be barren, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 and all the nations wil cal you blessed, for you wil be a land of delights, says Yahweh Sabaoth.	12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightful land, saith the Lord of hosts.
13 'You have said harsh things about me, says Yahweh. And yet you say, "What have we said againstyou?"	13 Your words have been unsufferable to me, saith the Lord.
14 You have said, "It is useless to serve God; what is the good of keeping his commands or of walkingmournful y before Yahweh Sabaoth?	14 And you have said: What have we spoken against thee? You have said: He laboureth in vain that serveth God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked sorrowful before the Lord of hosts?
15 In fact, we now cal the proud the happy ones; the evil-doers are the ones who prosper; they put Godto the test, yet come to no harm!" '	15 Wherefore now we call the proud people happy, for they that work wickedness are built up, and they have tempted God and are preserved.
16 Then those who feared Yahweh talked to one another about this, and Yahweh took note and listened;and a book of remembrance was written in his presence recording those who feared him and kept his name inmind.	16 Then they that feared the Lord spoke every one with his neighbour: and the Lord gave ear, and heard it: and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that fear the Lord, and think on his name.
17 'On the day when I act, says Yahweh Sabaoth, they will be my most prized possession, and I shalspare them in the way a man spares the son who serves him.	17 And they shall be my special possession, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day that I do judgment: and I will spare them, as a man spareth his son that serveth him.
18 Then once again you wil see the difference between the upright person and the wicked one, betweenthe one who serves God and the one who does not serve him.	18 And you shall return, and shall see the difference between the just and the wicked: and between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not.
19 'For look, the Day is coming, glowing like a furnace. Al the proud and al the evil-doers wil be thestubble, and the Day, when it comes, wil set them ablaze, says Yahweh Sabaoth, leaving them neither root norbranch.
20 But for you who fear my name, the Sun of justice wil rise with healing in his rays, and you wil comeout leaping like calves from the stal ,
21 and trample on the wicked, who will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,says Yahweh Sabaoth.
22 'Remember the Law of my servant Moses to whom at Horeb I prescribed decrees and rulings for alIsrael.
23 'Look, I shal send you the prophet Elijah before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes.
24 He will reconcile parents to their children and children to their parents, to forestal my putting thecountry under the curse of destruction.'