1“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
2But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
5“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.
Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes
6“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, 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 of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God
13“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord.
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’
14“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 15But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ”
The Faithful Remnant
16Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
17“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
1Hwɛ! Mɛsoma me bɔfo a obesiesie kwan ama me. Afei mpofirim, Awurade a morehwehwɛ no no bɛba nʼasɔredan mu. Na apam no ho bɔfo a mopɛ no no bɛba, sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni.
2Na hena na obetumi agyina ne da a ɔbɛba no ano? Sɛ opue a, hena na obetumi agyina? Ɔbɛyɛ sɛ ogya a wɔde nan dade anaa ntamahorofo samina. 3Ɔbɛtena ase sɛ obi a ɔhoa dwetɛ ho. Ɔbɛtew Lewifo no ho na wɔayɛ sɛ sikakɔkɔɔ ne dwetɛ. Afei Awurade benya mmarima a wɔde ayɛyɛde bɛba wɔ kronkronyɛ mu, 4na afɔrebɔde a efi Yuda ne Yerusalem bɛyɛ nea ɛsɔ Awurade ani sɛnea na ɛte wɔ nna ne mfe a atwa mu no.
5“Enti metwiw abɛn mo, abebu atɛn. Mɛyɛ ntɛm adi adanse atia ntafowayifo, aguamammɔ ne atorofo, wɔn a wosisi adwumayɛfo wɔ wɔn akatua ho, wɔn a wɔhyɛ akunafo ne ayisaa so na wobu ntɛnkyew tia ahɔho na wonsuro me,” sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni.
Wɔbɔ Onyankopɔn Korɔn
6“Meyɛ Awurade a mennsakra. Ɛno nti na mo Yakob asefo, wɔnsɛee mo no. 7Efi mo nenanom bere so moatwe mo ho afi me mmara ho, moanni so. Monsan mmra me nkyɛn, na me nso mɛba mo nkyɛn,” sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni.
“Nanso mubisa se, ‘Ɔkwan bɛn so na yɛmfa nsan mmra?’
8“Onipa betumi abɔ Onyankopɔn korɔn ana? Nanso, mobɔ me korɔn! Na mubebisa se, ‘ɔkwan bɛn so na yɛfa bɔɔ wo korɔn?’
“Wɔ ntotoso du du ne afɔrebɔde mu. 9Nnome aba mo so, ɔman mu no nyinaa, efisɛ, morebɔ me korɔn. 10Momfa ntotoso du du no nyinaa mmra adekoradan3.10 Adekoradan: Adekoradan a ɛwɔ kronkron mu kronkron (1 Ah 7.51; 2 Be 31.11-12; Neh 13.12). Ɔsoro mfɛnsere—Ɛkyerɛ asetena mu nhyira bebree. (2 Ah 7.2,19; Nnw 78.23-24). Mehwie…nhyira—Nhyira apam a mahyɛ ho bɔ no (5 Mose 28.12; Yes 44.3). no mu, na aduan mmra me fi. Monsɔ me nhwɛ wɔ saa ɔkwan yi so, na monhwɛ sɛ meremmue ɔsoro mfɛnsere na merenhwie nhyira bebree ngu mo so a, morennya baabi nkora ne nyinaa mpo,” sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni. 11“Meremma mmoa mmɛsɛe mo nnɔbae na borɔdɔma aba rentew ngu wɔ bere a ɛmmeree ɛ,” sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni. 12“Na aman no nyinaa bɛka se wɔahyira mo, efisɛ mo asase so bɛyɛ anigye,” sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni.
13“Moaka nsɛm a ɛmfata atia me, nanso mubisa se, ‘Asɛm bɛn na yɛaka atia wo?’ Sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni.
14“Moaka se, ‘Onyankopɔn som yɛ ɔbrɛgu, na yedii nʼahyɛde so na yɛkɔɔ Asafo Awurade anim te sɛ wɔn a wɔredi awerɛhow no, mfaso bɛn na yenyae? 15Afei, wɔfrɛ ɔhantanni no nea wɔahyira no. Nokware ni, nnebɔneyɛfo di yiye, na mpo wɔn a wɔne Onyankopɔn di asi no, wɔfa wɔn ho di.’ ”
16Na wɔn a wosuro Awurade no ne wɔn ho wɔn ho kasae, na Awurade tiei, na ogyee wɔn so. Wɔn a wosuro Awurade na wodi ne din ni no, wɔkyerɛw wɔn din wɔ nhoma mmobɔwee so wɔ nʼanim de yɛɛ nkae ade.
17“Wɔbɛyɛ me dea,” sɛnea, Asafo Awurade se ni. Da a mɛkeka me ho no, wɔbɛyɛ mʼahode a ɛsom bo. Mede wɔn ho bɛkyɛ wɔn, sɛnea agya nya ayamhyehye de ɔba a ɔyɛ osetie ho kyɛ no no. 18Na mubehu nsonoe a ɛda atreneefo ne amumɔyɛfo ntam, ne wɔn a wɔsom Onyankopɔn ne wɔn a wɔnsom Onyankopɔn no ntam.
