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¹ "Look! I am sending my messenger
to clear the way before me;
and the Lord, whom you seek,
will suddenly come to his temple.
Yes, the messenger of the covenant,
in whom you take such delight —
look! Here he comes,"
says Adonai-Tzva'ot.
² But who can endure the day when he comes?
Who can stand when he appears?
For he will be like a refiner's fire,
like the soapmaker's lye.
³ He will sit, testing and purifying the silver;
he will purify the sons of Levi,
refining them like gold and silver,
so that they can bring offerings to Adonai uprightly.
⁴ Then the offering of Y'hudah and Yerushalayim
will be pleasing to Adonai,
as it was in the days of old,
as in years gone by.
⁵ "Then I will approach you for judgment;
and I will be quick to witness
against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers;
against those who take advantage
of wage-earners, widows and orphans;
against those who rob the foreigner of his rights
and don't fear me,"
says Adonai-Tzva'ot.

⁶ "But because I, Adonai, do not change,
you sons of Ya‘akov will not be destroyed.
⁷ Since the days of your forefathers
you have turned from my laws and have not kept them.
Return to me, and I will return to you,"
says Adonai-Tzva'ot.
"But you ask, ‘In respect to what
are we supposed to return?'
⁸ Can a person rob God?
Yet you rob me.
But you ask, ‘How have we robbed you?'
In tenths and voluntary contributions.
⁹ A curse is on you, on your whole nation,
because you rob me.
¹⁰ Bring the whole tenth into the storehouse,
so that there will be food in my house,
and put me to the test,"
says Adonai-Tzva'ot.
"See if I won't open for you
the floodgates of heaven
and pour out for you a blessing
far beyond your needs.
¹¹ For your sakes I will forbid the devourer
to destroy the yield from your soil;
and your vine will not lose its fruit
before harvest-time,"
says Adonai-Tzva'ot.
¹² "All nations will call you happy,
for you will be a land of delights,"
says Adonai-Tzva'ot.

¹³ "You have spoken strongly against me," says Adonai.
"Yet you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?'
¹⁴ By saying, ‘There is no point in serving God.
What good is it to obey his orders
or to walk about as mourners
before Adonai-Tzva'ot?
¹⁵ We consider the arrogant happy;
also evildoers prosper;
they put God to the test;
nevertheless, they escape.'"
¹⁶ Then those who feared Adonai spoke together;
and Adonai listened and heard.
A record book was written in his presence
for those who feared Adonai
and had respect for his name.
¹⁷ "They will be mine," says Adonai-Tzva'ot,
"on the day when I compose my own special treasure.
I will spare them as a man spares
his own son who serves him.
¹⁸ Then once again you will see the difference
between the righteous and the wicked,
between the person who serves God
and one that doesn't serve him.
^19 (4:1) For the day is coming, burning like a furnace,
when all the proud and evildoers will be stubble;
the day that is coming will set them ablaze,"
says Adonai-Tzva'ot,
"and leave them neither root nor branch.
^20 (4:2) But to you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in its wings;
and you will break out leaping,
like calves released from the stall.
^21 (4:3) You will trample the wicked,
they will be ashes under the soles of your feet
on the day when I take action,"
says Adonai-Tzva'ot.
^22 (4:4) "Remember the Torah of Moshe my servant,
which I enjoined on him at Horev,
laws and rulings for all Isra'el.
^23 (4:5) Look, I will send to you
Eliyahu the prophet
before the coming of the great
and terrible Day of Adonai.
^24 (4:6) He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children
and the hearts of the children to their fathers;
otherwise I will come and strike the land
with complete destruction."

[Look, I will send to you
Eliyahu the prophet
before the coming of the great
and terrible Day of Adonai.]