“^aBehold, I am going to send ^bMy ¹messenger, and he will ^2cprepare 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 Yahweh of hosts. 2 “But who can ^aendure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^bsmelter’s fire and like ¹fullers’ soap. 3 And 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 Yahweh ¹offerings in righteousness. 4 Then the ¹offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ^apleasing to Yahweh as in the ^bancient days 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 ^fsojourner and do not ²fear Me,” says Yahweh of hosts. 6 “For ¹I, Yahweh, ^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 Yahweh 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 ²contributions. 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 Yahweh of hosts, “if I will not ^bopen for you the windows of heaven and ^cempty out for you a blessing until ^2dit is beyond enough. 11 Then I will rebuke the ^adevourer for you so that it will not corrupt the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field ¹fail to bear,” says Yahweh of hosts. 12 “^aSo all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a ^bdelightful land,” says Yahweh of hosts.

13 “Your words have been strong against Me,” says Yahweh. “But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is ^aworthless to serve God; and what ^bgain is it that we have kept His charge and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh 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 Yahweh spoke to one another, and Yahweh ^agave heed and heard it, and a ^bbook of remembrance was written before Him for those who ²fear Yahweh and who think upon His name. 17 “And they will be ^aMine,” says Yahweh of hosts, “on the ^bday that I ¹prepare My ^2cown treasured possession, and I will ³spare them as a man ^4dspares his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will return and ^asee the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.