Malachi 3

The Promised Messenger

¹I, the Lord All-Powerful,[#Mt 11.10; Mk 1.2; Lk 1.76; 7.27.]

will send my messenger

to prepare the way for me.

Then suddenly the Lord

you are looking for

will appear in his temple.

The messenger you desire

is coming with my promise,

and he is on his way.

A Day of Change

²On the day the Lord comes, he will be like a furnace that purifies silver or like strong soap in a washbasin. No one will be able to stand up to him.[#Jl 2.11; Rev 6.17.]

³The Lord will purify the descendants of Levi, as though they were gold or silver. Then they will bring the proper offerings to the Lord ,[#3.3 The priests.]

⁴and the offerings of the people of Judah and Jerusalem will please him, just as they did in the past.

Don't Cheat God

⁵The Lord All-Powerful said:

Faithfulness Is Rewarded

¹⁶All those who truly respected the Lord and honored his name started discussing these things, and when God saw what was happening, he had their names written as a reminder in his book.[#3.16 Or “deeds.”]

¹⁷Then the Lord All-Powerful said: