“^aBehold, I am going to send ^bMy ¹messenger, and he will ^cprepare and clear the way before Me. And the Lord the Messiah, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; the ^2dMessenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. Matt 11:10; Luke 1:13-17, 76 2 “But who can ^aendure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^brefiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap which removes impurities and uncleanness. Rev 6:12-17 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He ^awill purify the sons of Levi the priests, and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^bpresent to the LORD grain offerings in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ^apleasing to the LORD as in the ^bdays of old and as in ancient years.

5 “Then I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against ^asorcerers, against ^badulterers, against ^cperjurers, and against those who oppress the ^dlaborer in his wages and ^ewidows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away the ^falien from his right, and those who do not fear Me with awe-filled reverence,” says the LORD of hosts. Deut 24:17 6 “For I am the LORD, I ^ado not change but remain faithful to My covenant with you; that is why you, O sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.

7 “Yet from the ^adays of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and ordinances and have not kept them. ^bReturn to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In ^atithes and offerings you have withheld. 9 You are ^acursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, this whole nation! Lev 26:14-17 10 ^aBring all the tithes (the tenth) into the ¹storehouse, so that there may be ²food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not ^bopen for you the windows of heaven and ^cpour out for you so great a blessing until ^dthere is no more room to receive it. Mal 2:2 11 Then I will rebuke the ^1adevourer (insects, plague) for your sake and he will not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will your vine in the field drop its grapes before harvest,” says the LORD of hosts. 12 “^aAll nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a ^bland of delight,” says the LORD of hosts.

13 “Your words have been harsh against Me,” says the LORD. “But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is ^auseless to serve God. What ^bprofit is it if we keep His ordinances, and walk around like mourners before the LORD of hosts? 15 So now we ^acall the arrogant happy and blessed. Evildoers are exalted and prosper; and when they test God, they ^bescape unpunished.’”

16 Then those who feared the LORD with awe-filled reverence spoke to one another; and the LORD ^apaid attention and heard it, and a ^bbook of remembrance was written before Him of those who fear the LORD with an attitude of reverence and respect and who esteem His name. 17 “They will be ^aMine,” says the LORD of hosts, “on that ^bday when I publicly recognize them and openly declare them to be ^cMy own possession that is, My very special treasure. And I will have compassion on them and spare them as a man ^dspares his own son who serves him.” 18 Then you will again ^adistinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.

“^aBehold, I am going to send ^bMy ¹messenger, and he will ^2cclear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; ³and the ^4dmessenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. 2 “But who can ^aendure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^brefiner’s fire and like ¹fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will ^apurify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^bpresent to the LORD ¹offerings in righteousness. 4 Then the ¹offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ^apleasing to the LORD as in the ^bdays 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 ^asorcerers and against the ^badulterers and against those who ^cswear falsely, and against those who oppress the ^dwage earner in his wages, the ^ewidow and the ¹orphan, and those who turn aside the ^2falien and do not ³fear Me,” says the LORD of hosts. 6 “For ¹I, the LORD, ^ado not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, ²are not consumed.

7 “From the ^adays of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. ^bReturn to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

8 “Will a man ¹rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In ^atithes and ²offerings. 9 You are ^acursed with a curse, for you are ¹robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 10 ^aBring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be ¹food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not ^bopen for you the windows of heaven and ^cpour out for you a blessing until ^2dit overflows. 11 Then I will rebuke the ^adevourer for you, so that it will not ¹destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts. 12 “^aAll the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a ^bdelightful land,” says the LORD of hosts.

13 “Your words have been ¹arrogant against Me,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is ^avain to serve God; and what ^bprofit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15 So now we ^acall the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and ^bescape.’”

16 Then those who ¹feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD ^agave attention and heard it, and a ^bbook of remembrance was written before Him for those who ²fear the LORD and who esteem His name. 17 “They will be ^aMine,” says the LORD of hosts, “on the ^bday that I ¹prepare My ^2cown possession, and I will ³spare them as a man ^4dspares his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will again ^adistinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.