10 ^aHave we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been ^bfaithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has ^cmarried the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant¹ of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them ^done, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?² And what was the one God³ seeking?⁴ Godly offspring. So guard yourselves⁵ in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but ^edivorces her,⁶ says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers⁷ his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

17 You have ^fwearied the Lord with your ^gwords. ^hBut you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, ⁱ“Where is the God of justice?”

1 ^j“Behold, I send my messenger, and ^khe will ^lprepare 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 ^mwho can endure the day of his coming, and ⁿwho 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 ^olike gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.⁸ 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 ^psorcerers, against the ^qadulterers, against those who ^rswear falsely, against those who ^soppress the hired worker in his wages, the ^twidow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the ^usojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

6 “For I the Lord ^vdo not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. ^wReturn to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^xBut you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 ^yYou are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. ^zAnd thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer⁹ for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of ^adelight, says the Lord of hosts.

13 ^b“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”

16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a ^cbook of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my ^dtreasured possession, and I will spare them ^eas a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them ^fneither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall ^grise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules¹¹ that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, ^hI will send you Elijah the prophet before the ⁱgreat and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 ^jAnd he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^kstrike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”¹²