1 A prophecy:^(A) The word^(B) of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.^[a]

Israel Doubts God’s Love

² “I have loved^(C) you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask,^(D) ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,^{(E) 3} but Esau I have hated,^(F) and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland^(G) and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.^(H)”

⁴ Edom^(I) may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild^(J) the ruins.”

But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish.^(K) They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.^{(L) 5} You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great^(M) is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’^(N)

Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices

⁶ “A son honors his father,^(O) and a slave his master.^(P) If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect^(Q) due me?” says the Lord Almighty.^(R)

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask,^(S) ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

⁷ “By offering defiled food^(T) on my altar.

“But you ask,^(U) ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the Lord’s table^(V) is contemptible. ⁸ When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals,^(W) is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased^(X) with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.^(Y)

⁹ “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings^(Z) from your hands, will he accept^(AA) you?”—says the Lord Almighty.

¹⁰ “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors,^(AB) so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased^(AC) with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept^(AD) no offering^(AE) from your hands. ¹¹ My name will be great^(AF) among the nations,^(AG) from where the sun rises to where it sets.^(AH) In every place incense^(AI) and pure offerings^(AJ) will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

¹² “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table^(AK) is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food^(AL) is contemptible.’ ¹³ And you say, ‘What a burden!’^(AM) and you sniff at it contemptuously,^(AN)” says the Lord Almighty.

“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices,^(AO) should I accept them from your hands?”^(AP) says the Lord. ¹⁴ “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal^(AQ) to the Lord. For I am a great king,^(AR)” says the Lord Almighty,^(AS) “and my name is to be feared^(AT) among the nations.^(AU)

Additional Warning to the Priests

2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.^{(AV) 2} If you do not listen,^(AW) and if you do not resolve to honor^(AX) my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse^(AY) on you, and I will curse your blessings.^(AZ) Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

³ “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants^[b]; I will smear on your faces the dung^(BA) from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.^{(BB) 4} And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi^(BC) may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁵ “My covenant was with him, a covenant^(BD) of life and peace,^(BE) and I gave them to him; this called for reverence^(BF) and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. ⁶ True instruction^(BG) was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked^(BH) with me in peace^(BI) and uprightness,^(BJ) and turned many from sin.^(BK)

⁷ “For the lips of a priest^(BL) ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger^(BM) of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.^{(BN) 8} But you have turned from the way^(BO) and by your teaching have caused many to stumble;^(BP) you have violated the covenant^(BQ) with Levi,”^(BR) says the Lord Almighty. ⁹ “So I have caused you to be despised^(BS) and humiliated^(BT) before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality^(BU) in matters of the law.”^(BV)

Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

¹⁰ Do we not all have one Father^[c]?^(BW) Did not one God create us?^(BX) Why do we profane the covenant^(BY) of our ancestors by being unfaithful^(BZ) to one another?

¹¹ Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable^(CA) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves^(CB) by marrying^(CC) women who worship a foreign god.^{(CD) 12} As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove^(CE) him from the tents of Jacob^[d](CF)—even though he brings an offering^(CG) to the Lord Almighty.

¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.^(CH) You weep and wail^(CI) because he no longer looks with favor^(CJ) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.^{(CK) 14} You ask,^(CL) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness^(CM) between you and the wife of your youth.^(CN) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.^(CO)

¹⁵ Has not the one God made you?^(CP) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.^[e](CQ) So be on your guard,^(CR) and do not be unfaithful^(CS) to the wife of your youth.

¹⁶ “The man who hates and divorces his wife,^(CT)” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”^[f](CU) says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard,^(CV) and do not be unfaithful.

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

¹⁷ You have wearied^(CW) the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.^(CX)

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased^(CY) with them” or “Where is the God of justice?^(CZ)”

3 “I will send my messenger,^(DA) who will prepare the way before me.^(DB) Then suddenly the Lord^(DC) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(DD) whom you desire,^(DE) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

² But who can endure^(DF) the day of his coming?^(DG) Who can stand^(DH) when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire^(DI) or a launderer’s soap.^{(DJ) 3} He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;^(DK) he will purify^(DL) the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.^(DM) Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,^{(DN) 4} and the offerings^(DO) of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.^(DP)

⁵ “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,^(DQ) adulterers^(DR) and perjurers,^(DS) against those who defraud laborers of their wages,^(DT) who oppress the widows^(DU) and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners^(DV) among you of justice, but do not fear^(DW) me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

⁶ “I the Lord do not change.^(DX) So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.^{(DY) 7} Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away^(DZ) from my decrees and have not kept them. Return^(EA) to me, and I will return to you,”^(EB) says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask,^(EC) ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob^(ED) God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes^(EE) and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse^(EF)—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe^(EG) into the storehouse,^(EH) that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates^(EI) of heaven and pour out^(EJ) so much blessing^(EK) that there will not be room enough to store it.^{(EL) 11} I will prevent pests from devouring^(EM) your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,^(EN)” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed,^(EO) for yours will be a delightful land,”^(EP) says the Lord Almighty.^(EQ)

Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God

¹³ “You have spoken arrogantly^(ER) against me,” says the Lord.

“Yet you ask,^(ES) ‘What have we said against you?’

¹⁴ “You have said, ‘It is futile^(ET) to serve^(EU) God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements^(EV) and going about like mourners^(EW) before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵ But now we call the arrogant^(EX) blessed. Certainly evildoers^(EY) prosper,^(EZ) and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

The Faithful Remnant

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.^(FA) A scroll^(FB) of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared^(FC) the Lord and honored his name.

¹⁷ “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my^(FD) treasured possession.^(FE) I will spare^(FF) them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son^(FG) who serves him. ¹⁸ And you will again see the distinction between the righteous^(FH) and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.^(FI)

Judgment and Covenant Renewal

4 ^[g]“Surely the day is coming;^(FJ) it will burn like a furnace.^(FK) All the arrogant^(FL) and every evildoer will be stubble,^(FM) and the day that is coming will set them on fire,^(FN)” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch^(FO) will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name,^(FP) the sun of righteousness^(FQ) will rise with healing^(FR) in its rays. And you will go out and frolic^(FS) like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample^(FT) on the wicked; they will be ashes^(FU) under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

⁴ “Remember the law^(FV) of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb^(FW) for all Israel.^(FX)

⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah^(FY) to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.^{(FZ) 6} He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children,^(GA) and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike^(GB) the land with total destruction.”^(GC)

Eden Restored

22 Then the angel showed me the river^(A) of the water of life,^(B) as clear as crystal,^(C) flowing^(D) from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life,^(E) bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.^{(F) 3} No longer will there be any curse.^(G) The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.^{(H) 4} They will see his face,^(I) and his name will be on their foreheads.^{(J) 5} There will be no more night.^(K) They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.^(L) And they will reign for ever and ever.^(M)

John and the Angel

⁶ The angel said to me,^(N) “These words are trustworthy and true.^(O) The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets,^(P) sent his angel^(Q) to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

⁷ “Look, I am coming soon!^(R) Blessed^(S) is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”^(T)

⁸ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.^(U) And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet^(V) of the angel who had been showing them to me. ⁹ But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll.^(W) Worship God!”^(X)

¹⁰ Then he told me, “Do not seal up^(Y) the words of the prophecy of this scroll,^(Z) because the time is near.^{(AA) 11} Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”^(AB)

Epilogue: Invitation and Warning

¹² “Look, I am coming soon!^(AC) My reward is with me,^(AD) and I will give to each person according to what they have done.^{(AE) 13} I am the Alpha and the Omega,^(AF) the First and the Last,^(AG) the Beginning and the End.^(AH)

¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes,^(AI) that they may have the right to the tree of life^(AJ) and may go through the gates^(AK) into the city.^{(AL) 15} Outside^(AM) are the dogs,^(AN) those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus,^(AO) have sent my angel^(AP) to give you^[a] this testimony for the churches.^(AQ) I am the Root^(AR) and the Offspring of David,^(AS) and the bright Morning Star.”^(AT)

¹⁷ The Spirit^(AU) and the bride^(AV) say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.^(AW)

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll:^(AX) If anyone adds anything to them,^(AY) God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.^{(AZ) 19} And if anyone takes words away^(BA) from this scroll of prophecy,^(BB) God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life^(BC) and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things^(BD) says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”^(BE)

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.^(BF)

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people.^(BG) Amen.