1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall clear out the way before me: and suddenly will come to his temple the Lord, whom ye seek; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire for, behold, he is coming, saith the Lord of hosts.
2But who can sustain the day of his coming? and who can stand when he appeareth? for he is like the fire of the melter, and like the lye of the washers:
3And he will sit as a melter and purifier of silver; and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness
4And then shall be pleasant unto the Lord the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5And I will come near unto you to [hold] judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear falsely, and against those that withhold the wages of the hired laborer, [oppress] the widow, and the fatherless, and that do injustice to the stranger, and fear me not, saith the Lord of hosts.
6For I the Lord,—I have not changed: and ye sons of Jacob—ye have not ceased to be.
7From the days of your fathers did ye depart from my statutes, and did not keep them; return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts; but ye say, Wherein shall we return?
8Can a man rob God, that ye will rob me? But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and in heave-offerings.
9With the curse are ye cursed, and yet me do ye rob, O ye entire nation!
10Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be provision in my house, and prove me but herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing, until it be more than enough.
11And I will rebuke for you the devourer, and he shall not destroy for you the fruit of the ground: and the vine shall not cast its fruit for you before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
12And all the nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a land of delight, saith the Lord of hosts.
13Your words have been strong against me, saith the Lord; but ye say, What have we spoken among us against thee?
14Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked contritely before the Lord of hosts?
15And now we call the presumptuous happy: yea, built up are those that practise wickedness; yea, they have even tempted God and are [yet] suffered to escape.
16Then conversed they that fear the Lord one with the other: and the Lord listened and heard it, and there was written a book of remembrance before him for those who fear the Lord, and for those who respect his name.
17And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, on that day which I create as a special treasure: and I will spare them, as a man spareth his son that serveth him.
18And ye shall return, and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that hath not served him.