3 1 Look, I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord whom you are seeking will come to his temple — Jesus, the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Look, he is coming, says the Father of heaven's armies. a a v1 The messenger who prepares the way is John the Baptist, and the Lord who comes to his temple is Jesus — the messenger of the covenant. Mark opens his Gospel with these very words (Mark 1:2). 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand firm when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings to our Father in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to our Father, as in the days of old, as in former years.
5 I will come near to judge you. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who cheat the laborer of his wages and oppress the widow and the fatherless, who push aside the foreigner and do not fear me, says the Father of heaven's armies.
Return to Your Father
6 For I, your Father, do not change; therefore you, children of Jacob, have not been destroyed. 7 Ever since the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Father of heaven's armies. But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
8 Will a person rob their Father? Yet you are robbing me. But you ask, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and your offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me — the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house. Test me now in this, says the Father of heaven's armies, and see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruit of your ground, and your vine in the field will not fail to bear fruit, says the Father of heaven's armies. 12 Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Father of heaven's armies.
13 Your words have been harsh against me, says our Father. But you ask, 'What have we said against you?' 14 You have said, 'It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by obeying his commands and walking as mourners before the Father of heaven's armies?' 15 'So now we call the arrogant blessed. Those who do evil prosper; they even put God to the test and get away with it.'
16 Then those who feared our Father spoke with one another, and he paid attention and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written before him for those who fear him and treasure his name.
17 They will be mine, says the Father of heaven's armies, on the day when I act, my treasured possession. I will spare them as a father spares his own son who serves him. 18 Then once more you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves our Father and one who does not serve him.