[a] Behold, I send forth my messenger,
and he shall survey the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek,
shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant,
whom ye take pleasure in: behold, he is coming, saith the Lord
Almighty.
And who will [b] abide the day of his
coming? or who will withstand at his appearing? for he is coming in as
the fire of a furnace and as the herb of [c] fullers.
He shall sit to melt and purify as it were silver, and as it were
gold: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and [d] refine them as gold and silver, and they
shall offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.
And the sacrifice of Juda and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the
Lord, according to the former days, and according to the former
years.
And I will draw near to you in judgment; and I will be a swift
witness against the witches, and against the adulteresses, and against
them that swear falsely by my name, and against them that keep back
the hireling's wages, and them that oppress the widow, and [e] afflict orphans, and that wrest the
judgment of the stranger, and fear not me, saith the Lord Almighty.
For I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed:
but ye, the sons of Jacob, have not refrained from the iniquities
of your fathers: ye have perverted my statutes, and have not kept
them.
Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord
Almighty. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Will a man insult God? for ye insult me. But ye said, Wherein
have we insulted thee? In that the tithes and first-fruits are with
you still.
And ye do surely look off from me, and ye insult me.
The year is completed, and ye have brought all the produce into
the storehouses; but there shall be the plunder thereof in its house:
return now on this behalf, saith the Lord Almighty, see if I
will not open to you the [f] torrents of
heaven, and pour out my blessing upon you, until ye are satisfied.
And I will [g] appoint food for you,
and I will not destroy the fruit of your land; and your vine in the
field shall not fail, saith the Lord Almighty.
And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a
desirable land, saith the Lord Almighty.
Ye have spoken grievous words against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye
said, Wherein have we spoken against thee?
Ye said, He that serves God [h]
labours in vain: and what have we gained in that we have kept his
ordinances, and in that we have walked as suppliants before the face
of the Lord Almighty?
And now we pronounce strangers blessed; and all they who act
unlawfully are built up; and they have resisted God, and yet
have been delivered.
Thus spoke they that feared the Lord, every one to his neighbour:
and the Lord gave heed, and hearkened, and he wrote a book of
remembrance before him for them that feared the Lord and reverenced
his name.
And they shall be [i] mine, saith the
Lord Almighty, in the day which I appoint for a peculiar possession;
and I will make choice of them, as a man makes choice of his son that
serves him.
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the
wicked, and between him that serves God, and him that serves
him not.
[a] Matt. 11. 10.
[b]Or, wait for.
[c]Gr. them that wash.
[d]Gr. pour.
[e]Gr. beat with the fist.
[f]Or, windows, see Gen. 7. 11,
there rendered 'flood-gates.'
[g]Or, give a charge for you to
be fed. Alex.[h]Gr. is vain.
[i]Gr. for me.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]
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