| New International Version | NET 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"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the LORD who rules over all. |
| 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. | 2Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing 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, | 3He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the LORD a proper offering. |
| 4and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years. | 4The offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in former times and years past. |
| 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"I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me," says the LORD who rules over all. |
| 6"I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. | 6"Since, I, the LORD, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished. |
| 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?' | 7From the days of your ancestors you have ignored my commandments and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD who rules over all. "But you say, 'How should 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. | 8Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and contributions! |
| 9You are under a curse--your whole nation--because you are robbing me. | 9You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me--this whole nation is guilty. |
| 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. | 10"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the LORD who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. |
| 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. | 11Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest," says the LORD who rules over all. |
| 12"Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. | 12"All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a delightful land," says the LORD who rules over all. |
| 13"You have spoken arrogantly against me," says the LORD. "Yet you ask, 'What have we said against you?' | 13"You have criticized me sharply," says the LORD, "but you ask, 'How have we criticized 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 useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD who rules over all? |
| 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 consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God 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. | 16Then those who respected the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected 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 belong to me," says the LORD who rules over all, "in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them as a man spares his 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. | 18Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not. |
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