1 g“Behold, I send hmy messenger, and ihe will prepare the way before me. And the Lord jwhom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and kthe messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But lwho can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For mhe is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit nas 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 oofferings in righteousness to the Lord.1 4 pThen 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 qa swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those rwho oppress the hired worker in his wages, sthe widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
Robbing God
6 “For tI the Lord do not change; utherefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 vFrom 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. xBut you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ yIn your tithes and contributions. 9 zYou are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 aBring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby bput me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open cthe windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke dthe devourer2 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 eall nations will call you blessed, for you will be fa land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
13 g“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. hBut you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14 You have said, i‘It is vain to serve God. jWhat is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15 And now we call kthe arrogant blessed. kEvildoers not only prosper but lthey put God to the test and they escape.’”
The Book of Remembrance
16 Then those who feared the Lord mspoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and na book 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, oin the day when I make up pmy treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall qsee the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
3The Great Day of the Lord
1 “For behold, rthe day is coming, sburning like an oven, when tall the arrogant and tall evildoers uwill be stubble. The day that is coming ushall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you vwho fear my name, wthe sun xof righteousness shall rise ywith healing in its wings. You shall go out zleaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, aon the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
4 b“Remember cthe law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules4 that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 d“Behold, I will send you eElijah the prophet fbefore the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will gturn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and hstrike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”5
The River of Life
1 Then the angel1 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations. 3 dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him. 4 gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads. 5 And inight will be no more. They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.
Jesus Is Coming
6 And he said to me, m“These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of nthe spirits of the prophets, ohas sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
7 “And behold, pI am coming soon. qBlessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 I, rJohn, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, sI fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 sbut he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those mwho keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
10 And he said to me, t“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 uLet the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, vI am coming soon, wbringing my recompense with me, xto repay each one for what he has done. 13 yI am the Alpha and the Omega, zthe first and the last, athe beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who bwash their robes,3 so that they may have the right to cthe tree of life and that dthey may enter the city by the gates. 15 eOutside are fthe dogs gand sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 h“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ifor the churches. I am jthe root and kthe descendant of David, lthe bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and mthe Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And nlet the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the owater of life without price.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: pif anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in qthe tree of life and in rthe holy city, which are described in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely sI am coming soon.” Amen. tCome, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.4 Amen.
