Malachi 3:1–7b
1 “Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom
you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you
delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them
like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in
former years.
5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired
worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner,
and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
6 “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7From
the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.”