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The Purifier

¹ "^(C1)Behold, I am going to send ^(C2)My ^(F1)messenger, and he will ^(F2)(C3)clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; ^(F3)and the ^(F1)(C4)messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.² "But who can ^(C1)endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^(C2)refiner's fire and like ^(F1)fullers' soap.³ "He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will ^(C1)purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^(C2)present to the LORD ^(F1)offerings in righteousness.⁴ "Then the ^(F1)offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ^(C1)pleasing to the LORD as in the ^(C2)days of old and as in former years.

⁵ "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the ^(C1)sorcerers and against the ^(C2)adulterers and against those who ^(C3)swear falsely, and against those who oppress the ^(C4)wage earner in his wages, the ^(C5)widow and the ^(F1)orphan, and those who turn aside the ^(F2)(C6)alien and do not ^(F3)fear Me," says the LORD of hosts.⁶ "For ^(F1)I, the LORD, ^(C1)do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, ^(F2)are not consumed.

⁷ "From the ^(C1)days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. ^(C2)Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'

You Have Robbed God

⁸ "Will a man ^(F1)rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In ^(C1)tithes and ^(F2)offerings.⁹ "You are ^(C1)cursed with a curse, for you are ^(F1)robbing Me, the whole nation of you!¹⁰ "^(C1)Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be ^(F1)food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not ^(C2)open for you the windows of heaven and ^(C3)pour out for you a blessing until ^(F2)(C4)it overflows.¹¹ "Then I will rebuke the ^(C1)devourer for you, so that it will not ^(F1)destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes," says the LORD of hosts.¹² "^(C1)All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a ^(C2)delightful land," says the LORD of hosts.

¹³ "Your words have been ^(F1)arrogant against Me," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against You?'¹⁴ "You have said, 'It is ^(C1)vain to serve God; and what ^(C2)profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts?¹⁵ 'So now we ^(C1)call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and ^(C2)escape.'"

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who ^(F1)feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD ^(C1)gave attention and heard it, and a ^(C2)book of remembrance was written before Him for those who ^(F1)fear the LORD and who esteem His name.¹⁷ "They will be ^(C1)Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the ^(C2)day that I ^(F1)prepare My ^(F2)(C3)own possession, and I will ^(F3)spare them as a man ^(F3)(C4)spares his own son who serves him."¹⁸ So you will again ^(C1)distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.