Malachi 3

YLT

3 Lo, I am sending My messenger //John the Baptist//,

And he //John the Baptist// hath prepared a way before Me //Jesus//,

And suddenly come in unto his //John the Baptist// temple Doth the Lord //Jesus//

whom ye are seeking,

Even the messenger of the covenant //Jesus//,

Whom ye are desiring,

Lo, he //Jesus// is coming, said Jehovah of Hosts.

^2 ^And who is bearing the day of his //Jesus// coming?

And who is standing in his //Jesus// appearing?

For he //Jesus// [is]

as fire of a refiner,

And as soap of a fuller.

And he //Jesus// hath sat,

a refiner

and purifier of silver,

And he //Jesus// hath

purified the sons of Levi, //priests//

And hath refined them

as gold

and as silver,

And they //the sons of Levi// have been to Jehovah

bringing nigh a present in righteousness.

And sweet to Jehovah hath been

the present of Judah and Jerusalem,

As in days of old,

and as in former years.

^5 ^And I //Jehovah// have drawn near to you //who is you?//

for judgment,

And I //Jehovah// have been

a witness,

Making haste against sorcerers,

And against adulterers,

And against swearers to a falsehood,

And against oppressors of the hire of an hireling,

Of a widow,

and of a fatherless one,

And those turning aside a sojourner,

And who fear Me //Jehovah// not, said Jehovah of Hosts.

^6 ^For I [am] Jehovah,

I have not changed,

And ye, the sons of Jacob,

Ye have not been consumed.

Even from the days of your fathers

Ye have turned aside from My statutes,

And ye have not taken heed.

Turn back unto Me,

and I turn back to you,

Said Jehovah of Hosts.

And ye have said,

`In what do we turn back?'

Doth man deceive God?

but ye are deceiving Me,

And ye have said:

`In what have we deceived Thee?'

The tithe and the heave-offering!

With a curse ye are cursed!

And Me ye are deceiving -- this nation -- all of it.

Bring in all the tithe unto the treasure-house,

And there is food in My house;

When ye have tried Me, now, with this, Said Jehovah of Hosts,

Do not I open to you the windows of heaven?

Yea, I have emptied on you a blessing till there is no space.

And I have pushed for you against the consumer,

And He doth not destroy to you the fruit of the ground,

Nor miscarry to you doth the vine in the field, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

And declared you happy have all the nations,

For ye are a delightful land, said Jehovah of Hosts.

Hard against Me have been your words, Said Jehovah, and ye have said:

`What have we spoken against Thee?'

Ye have said, `A vain thing to serve God! And what gain when we kept His charge?

And when we have gone in black, Because of Jehovah of Hosts?

And now, we are declaring the proud happy,

Yea, built up have been those doing wickedness,

Yea they have tempted God, and escape.'

Then have those fearing Jehovah spoken one to another,

And Jehovah doth attend and hear,

And written is a book of memorial before Him Of those fearing Jehovah,

And of those esteeming His name.

And they have been to Me, said Jehovah of Hosts,

In the day that I am appointing -- a peculiar treasure,

And I have had pity on them,

As one hath pity on his son who is serving him.

And ye have turned back and considered,

Between the righteous and the wicked,

Between the servant of God and him who is not His servant.

TLV

“Behold, I am sending My messenger[a],

and he will clear the way before Me.[b]

Suddenly He will come to His Temple

—the Lord whom you seek—

and the Messenger of the covenant

—the One whom you desire—

    behold, He is coming,”

says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

2 But who can endure the day of His coming?

Or who can stand when He appears?[c]

For He will be like a refiner’s fire,[d]

    and like soap for cleaning raw wool.

3 And He will sit as a smelter or a purifier of silver,

and He will cleanse the sons of Levi,

and purify them like gold or silver.

Then they will become for Adonai

    those who present an offering in righteousness.

4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Adonai,

as in days of antiquity and years of old.

5 “Then I will draw near to you in judgment,

and I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers

    those who extort a worker’s wage,
    or oppress the widow or an orphan,
    those who mislead a stranger.
    They do not fear Me,”
    says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

6 “For I am Adonai. I do not change,

So you, children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Bring the Whole Tithe

7 “From the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

Yet you say: “How should we return?”

8 “Will a man rob[e] God? For you are robbing Me!”

But you say: “How have we robbed You?”

“In the tithe and the offering. 9 You have been cursed with the curse, yet you keep robbing Me—the whole nation! 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Then there will be food in My House. Now test Me in this”—says Adonai-Tzva’ot—“if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out blessing for you, until no one is without enough. 11 I will rebuke the devouring pest for you, so it will not destroy the fruit of your land, nor will your vine be barren in the field,” Adonai-Tzva’ot says. 12 “All the nations will call you blessed. For you will be a land of delight,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

13 “Your words against Me are grievous,” says Adonai.

Yet you say: “What did we say against You?”

14 You say: “Serving God is worthless.” Also: “What good is it that we kept His service or that we walked as mourners before Adonai-Tzva’ot? 15 So now we are calling the proud blessed. Those who practice iniquity are built up. Indeed, they have tested God, and escaped!”

16 Then those who revere Adonai spoke with each other, and Adonai took notice and heard, and a scroll of remembrance[f] was written before Him, for those who revere Adonai, even those who esteem His Name.

17 “So they shall be Mine,”—says Adonai-Tzva’ot—“in the day I make My own special possession. So I will spare them, as one spares his son serving him. 18 Then you will return and distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.”

The Day Is Coming

19 [g]“For behold, the day is coming

—it will burn like a furnace—

when all the proud and every evildoer will become stubble.

The day that is coming will set them ablaze”

—says Adonai-Tzva’ot—

“leaving them neither root nor branch.”

20 “But for you who revere My Name,

the sun of righteousness will rise,

    with healing in its wings.

Then you will go forth and skip about

    like calves from the stall.

21 You will trample on the wicked,

for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet

in the day that I am making,”

    says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

22 “Remember the Torah of Moses My servant, whom I commanded at Horeb—statutes and ordinances for all Israel.

23 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet[h], before the coming of the great and terrible day of Adonai. 24 He will turn the hearts of fathers to the children, and the hearts of children to their fathers—else I will come and strike the land with utter destruction.”

Footnotes

Malachi 3:1 Heb. Malachi.

Malachi 3:1 cf. Matt. 3:3; 11:10.

Malachi 3:2 cf. Rev. 6:17.

Malachi 3:2 cf. Matt. 3:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:13-15.

Malachi 3:8 Or hold back or defraud.

Malachi 3:16 cf. Luke 10:20; Rev. 3:5; 20:11-15.

Malachi 3:19 Traditional Christian texts have Chapter 4:1-6.

Malachi 3:23 cf. Matt. 11:14; 17:10-13; Mark 9:11-13; Luke 1:17; John 1:21.

OJB

Hineni, I will send malachi, and he shall prepare the Derech before me: and HaAdon (the L-rd [Moshiach] Zech 4:14), whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His Heikhal, even the Malach HaBrit, in whom ye have chafetz (delight): hinei, He is coming, saith Hashem Tzva’os.

2 But who may abide the Yom Bo’o (day of His coming)? Who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s eish, and like fullers’ soap:

3 And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of kesef; and He shall purify the Bnei Levi, and purge them as zahav and kesef, that they may offer unto Hashem an offering in tzedakah.

4 Then shall the offering of Yehudah and Yerushalayim be pleasing unto Hashem, as in the yamei olam (days of old), and as in shanim kadmoniyyot (former years).

5 And I will come near to you for mishpat; and I will be a swift ed (witness) against the mekhashfim (sorcerers), and against the mena’afim (adulterers), and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the almanah (widow), and the fatherless, and that turn aside the ger from his right, and fear not Me, saith Hashem Tzva’os.

6 For I am Hashem, I change not; therefore ye Bnei Ya’akov are not consumed.

7 Even from the yamei avoteichem ye are gone away from Mine chukkim, and have not been shomer over them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith Hashem Tzva’os. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

8 Will a man rob G-d? Yet ye have robbed Me [Ex 20:15]. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In ma’aser (tithes) and terumah (offerings, contributions).

9 Ye are cursed with a me’erah (curse); for ye have robbed Me, even this whole Goy (nation).

10 Bring ye kol hama’aser (all the tithes) into the Beis HaOtzar (House of the Treasury), that there may be teref (food) in Mine Beis [Hamikdash], and prove Me now herewith, saith Hashem Tzva’os, if I will not open you the windows of Shomayim, and pour you out a brocha, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the p’ri ha’adamah; neither shall your gefen cast her fruit before the time in the sadeh, saith Hashem Tzva’os.

12 And kol HaGoyim shall call you blessed; for ye shall be an Eretz Chefetz, saith Hashem Tzva’os.

13 Your devarim have been harsh against Me, saith Hashem. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against Thee?

14 Ye have said, Avod Elohim is vain; and what profit is it that we have been shomer over His mishmeret, and that we have walked as mourners before Hashem Tzva’os?

15 And now we call the zedim (proud) happy; yea, they that work rishah (wickedness) are set up; yea, they that tempt Elohim even go free.

16 Then they that feared Hashem spoke often one to another; and Hashem paid heed, and heard it, and a Sefer Zikaron (book of remembrance) was written before Him for them that feared Hashem, and that meditated upon Shmo (His Name).

17 And they shall be Mine, saith Hashem Tzva’os, in that Yom when I make up My segullah (special treasure, possession); and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own ben haoved oto (son that serveth him).

18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the tzaddik and the rasha, between oved Elohim (him that serveth G-d) and him that serveth Him not.