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I will send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. Then suddenly the Lord you seek will come to His temple; the Messenger of the covenant, whom you desire. Behold, he is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts.
2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present to the Lord offerings of sacrifices given in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in days of old, as in former years.
5 “Then I will come near to you in judgment. I will be swift to testify against sorcerers, against adulterers, and against perjurers; against those who oppress the widows and the fatherless, against those who cheat wage earners, and against those who deprive foreigners of justice—all these do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts.
6 “I, the Lord, do not change. That is why you have not perished, O sons of Jacob. 7 Ever since the days of your forefathers you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Hosts.
“But you ask, ‘In what way shall we return?’
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me.
“But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse—the whole nation of you—because You are still robbing Me. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be foodin My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out such a blessing for you that there will not be enough room to receive it. 11 I will rebuke the devourer of your crops for you, and the vines in your fields will not cast off their fruit prematurely,” says the Lord of Hosts. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be in a delightful land,” says the Lord of Hosts.
13 “You have spoken harsh words against Me,” says the Lord.
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
14 “You have said, ‘It is futile serving God. What do we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about mournfully before the Lord of Hosts? 15 But now we consider the arrogant fortunate. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even challenge God and go free’.”
16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the Lord and held His name in high regard and honoured Him.
17 “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My special possession. I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18 And once more you will see a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.”