| NET Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 4The offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in former times and years past. | 4Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by. |
| 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. | 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"Since, I, the LORD, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished. | 6“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. |
| 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?' | 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?’ |
| 8Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and contributions! | 8Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings. |
| 9You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me--this whole nation is guilty. | 9You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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"All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a delightful land," says the LORD who rules over all. | 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 criticized me sharply," says the LORD, "but you ask, 'How have we criticized you?' | 13“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ |
| 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? | 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? |
| 15So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!'" | 15So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’ ” |
| 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. | 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"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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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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