Malaquias 3

1 "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me! The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Behold, the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, is coming!" says Yahweh of Armies. 2 "But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap; 3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh as in the days of old and as in ancient years.

5 I will come near to you to judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me," says Yahweh of Armies.

6 "For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says Yahweh of Armies. "But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this," says Yahweh of Armies, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be enough room for. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field," says Yahweh of Armies. 12 "All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," says Yahweh of Armies.

13 "Your words have been harsh against me," says Yahweh. "Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God,’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies? 15 Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’

16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened and heard, and a book of memory was written before him for those who feared Yahweh and who honored his name. 17 They shall be mine," says Yahweh of Armies, "my own possession in the day that I make. I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18 Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.

Te Karere e Haere mai nei

1 "Tēnei te ungā atu nei e ahau tāku karere, māna e whakapai te ara i mua i ahau, ā, kitea rawatia ake, kua tae te Ariki, e rapua nei e koutou, ki tōna temepara. Nā, ko te anahera o te kawenata, ko tā koutou e ngākau nui nā – nanā, tērā ia ka tae atu," e ai tā Ihowā o ngā mano.

2 Ā, ko wai e ū i te rā e tae mai ai ia? Ko wai hoki e tū, ina puta mai ia? E rite ana hoki ia ki te ahi a te kaitahi para, ki te mea horoi a te kaihoroi. 3 Ka noho anō ia, ka rite ki te kaitahi para, ki te kaiwhakapai hiriwa, ā, ka whakapaia e ia ngā tama a Rīwai, ka whakahemokia tō rātou para, ānō he kōura, he hiriwa, kia tāpaea ai e rātou he whakahere ki a Ihowā i runga i te tika. 4 Ko reira te whakahere a Hūrā rāua ko Hiruhārama rekaina ai e Ihowā, ka rite ki ngā rā ō mua, ki ngā tau onamata.

5 "Ka whakatata atu anō ahau ki a koutou ki te whakawā; ka hohoro anō ahau hei kaiwhakaatu i te hē o ngā kaimākutu, o te hunga pūremu, o ngā kaioati teka, o te hunga e tāhae ana i ngā utu o te kaimahi, i tā te pouaru, i tā te pani, e whakapeau kē ana i tā te manene, ā, kāhore e wehi i ahau, e ai tā Ihowā o ngā mano."

6 "Ko ahau hoki, ko Ihowā, kāhore ahau e puta kē; nā reira koutou, e ngā tama a Hākopa, i kore ai e pau. 7 Nō ngā rā o ō koutou mātua i whakarērea ai e koutou āku tikanga, kīhai anō i puritia e koutou. Hoki mai ki ahau, ā, ka hoki atu ahau ki a koutou," e ai tā Ihowā o ngā mano.

"Heoi, kei te mea nā koutou, ‘Kia pēhea tā mātou hoki atu?’

Kaua e Tāhaetia tā te Atua

8 "E tāhae rānei te tangata i tā te Atua? Heoi, e tāhae nā koutou i tāku.

"Ā, e mea nā koutou, ‘He pēhea tā mātou tāhae i tāu?’

"Ki ngā whakatekau rā, me ngā whakahere! 9 Kua kangā, kua kangā koutou; ko koutou hoki kei te tāhae i tāku, arā ko tēnei iwi katoa. 10 Maua katoatia mai te whakatekau ki roto ki te toa, kia whai kai ai tōku whare, waiho hoki tēnei hei whakamātautau mōku," e ai tā Ihowā o ngā mano, "me kāhore e tuwhera i ahau ngā matapihi o te rangi ki a koutou, ā, ka ringihia he manaaki ki a koutou, ā, kia kore rā anō he takotoranga. 11 Ā, ka rīria e ahau te kaiwhakapareho, he mea mō koutou, ā, e kore e hunā e ia ngā hua o tō koutou oneone; e kore anō e marere noa ngā hua o tā koutou wāina i te māra," e ai tā Ihowā o ngā mano. 12 "Ā, ki tā ngā iwi katoa, he manaakitanga koutou; nō te mea he whenua āhuareka koutou," e ai tā Ihowā o ngā mano.

13 "He kaha ā koutou kupu ki ahau," e ai tā Ihowā.

"Heoi, e kī nā koutou, ‘He aha tā mātou kōrero mōu?’

14 "Kua kī nā koutou, ‘Kāhore he hua o te mahi ki te Atua. He aha hoki te rawa o tā mātou pupuri i āna mea, o tā mātou haere tauā i te aroaro o Ihowā o ngā mano? 15 Nā ināianei, ki tā mātou, ko te hunga whakakake ngā mea koa; āe rā, ko ngā kaimahi i te kino te hunga e hanga ake; āe rā, e whakamātautau ana rātou i te Atua, ā, kua mawhiti.’ "

Te Utu mō te Hunga Pono

16 Nā, ko te hunga i wehi i a Ihowā, kei te kōrerorero rātou ki tōna hoa, ki tōna hoa; ā, ka tahuri a Ihowā, ka whakarongo, nā, ka tuhituhia he pukapuka whakamahara ki tōna aroaro mō te hunga i wehi ki a Ihowā, i whakaaro hoki ki tōna ingoa.

17 "Māku hoki rātou," e ai tā Ihowā o ngā mano, "i te rā e mahia ai e ahau he taonga motuhake; ka manawapā anō ahau ki a rātou, ka pērā me te tangata e manawapā ana ki tāna tama e mahi ana ki a ia. 18 Ko reira anō koutou hoki ai, kite ai i te rerekētanga o tā te tika, o tā te kino, o tā tērā e mahi ana ki te Atua, o tā tērā kāhore e mahi ki a ia."