| New International Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1"I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. | 1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts. |
| 2But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. | 2But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. |
| 3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, | 3And 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 offerings to the LORD in righteousness. |
| 4and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years. | 4Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by. |
| 5"So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty. | 5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts. |
| 6"I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. | 6“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. |
| 7Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' | 7Yet from the days of your fathers, 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, ‘How can we return?’ |
| 8"Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How are we robbing you?' "In tithes and offerings. | 8Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings. |
| 9You are under a curse--your whole nation--because you are robbing me. | 9You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. |
| 10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. | 10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure. |
| 11I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe," says the LORD Almighty. | 11I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts. |
| 12"Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. | 12“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the LORD of Hosts. |
| 13"You have spoken arrogantly against me," says the LORD. "Yet you ask, 'What have we said against you?' | 13“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ |
| 14"You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? | 14You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts? |
| 15But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.'" | 15So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’ ” |
| 16Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. | 16At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name. |
| 17"On the day when I act," says the LORD Almighty, "they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. | 17“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. |
| 18And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. | 18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” |
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