Malachi 3

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
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 Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says 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 But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye.
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 He will sit refining and purifying (silver), and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
4 The offering of Judah and Jerusalem wil then be acceptable to Yahweh as in former days, as in theyears of old.	4 Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old, as in years gone by.
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 I will draw near to you for judgment, and I will be swift to bear witness Against the sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, those who defraud the hired man of his wages, Against those who defraud widows and orphans; those who turn aside the stranger, and those who do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
6 'No; I, Yahweh, do not change; and you have not ceased to be children of Jacob!	6 Surely I, the LORD, do not change, nor do you cease to be sons of Jacob.
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 Since the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Yet you say, "How must 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 Dare a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me! And you say, "How do we rob you?" In tithes and in offerings!
9 A curse lies on you because you, this whole nation, try to cheat me.	9 You are indeed accursed, for you, the whole nation, rob me.
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 the whole tithe into the storehouse, That there may be food in my house, and try me in this, says the LORD of hosts: Shall I not open for you the floodgates of heaven, to pour down blessing upon you without measure?
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 For your sake I will forbid the locust to destroy your crops; And the vine in the field will not be barren, says 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 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says the LORD of hosts.
13 'You have said harsh things about me, says Yahweh. And yet you say, "What have we said againstyou?"	13 You have defied me in word, says the LORD, yet you ask, "What have we spoken against you?"
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 You have said, "It is vain to serve God, and what do we profit by keeping his command, And going about in penitential dress in awe of 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 Rather must we call the proud blessed; for indeed evildoers prosper, and even tempt God with impunity."
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 who fear the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened attentively; And a record book was written before him of those who fear the LORD and trust in 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 mine, says the LORD of hosts, my own special possession, on the day I take action. And I will have compassion on them, as a man has compassion on his son who serves 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 Then you will again see the distinction between the just and the wicked; Between him who serves God, and him who does not serve him.
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.	19 For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, And the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts.
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 ,	20 But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays; And you will gambol like calves out of the stall
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.	21 1)and tread down the wicked; They will become ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day I take action, says the LORD of hosts.
22 'Remember the Law of my servant Moses to whom at Horeb I prescribed decrees and rulings for alIsrael.	22 Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I enjoined him on Horeb, The statutes and ordinances for all Israel.
23 'Look, I shal send you the prophet Elijah before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes.	23 Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day,
24 He will reconcile parents to their children and children to their parents, to forestal my putting thecountry under the curse of destruction.'	24 To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the land with doom.