1 “Tita ge ti sîsabeba nî sî, daobab nî ǂhomiba tese. Ob ge ǃKhūb hîa du ra ôaba ǃnapetamase Tempeli âb ǃoa nî hā. ǁNā sîsabeb ǃgaeǀhaos dib sadu ra mûǂuibab ge ra hā,”
tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî. 2 Xawe tari-e ǁîb hās di tsēsa nî mâǃkharu ǁkhā? Tari-e ǁîb ga ǂhai, o nî mâ ǁkhā? ǁÎb ge ǀurin tsunitsuni-aob di ǀaes khami ī tsî ǁā-aob di ǀgaisa sē-i khami. 3 ǁÎb ge ǀhaiǀurib di tsunitsuni tsî ǃanuǃanu-ao-i khami ǂnû tsî Leviǁîga nî ǃanuǃanu, tsîb ge ǁîga ǃhuniǀurib khami nî ǃanuǃanu, o gu ge ǁîga ǂhanu ǁguibade ǃKhūba nî hā-ūba. 4 O di ge Judab tsî Jerusalems di ǁguibade ǃKhūba nî ǃgâiba, ǀnai di ge ǃkharu ge kurigu ǃnâ ī-i khami.
5 “Tita ge sado nî ǀgoraǃgâse sadu ǃoa nî hā, tsî ta ge ǁnātimîsi nî ǃkhō-am, ǃgai-aon, ǃgamekhôa-aon, ǂkhaba ǃkhō-amaon, sîsenaona mātares âna ra gāxaǃnân, ǃoataradi tsî ǃguniǀgôan tsî ǃhaokhoen tsîna ra ǀhôagaoǃnân tsî tita ǃaoǃgâ taman tsîn ǃoagu,”
tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî.Disiǁîǃâsa mās
6 “Tita ǃKhūta ge ǀkharaǀkharasen tama hâ. ǁNā-amagas ge sadu Jakob surib didu hîkākāhe tamasa. 7 Sadu aboxagu di tsēde xu du ge ti ǂnûiǂgāde ǃharaxū tsî ǁîde ǃkhōǀgaipe tama hâ. Tita ǃoa ǃhobasen re, o ta ge tita sado ǃoa nî oaǀkhī, tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî. Xawe du ge sado ‘Mâti da nî ǃhobasen’ ti ra mî. 8 Khoe-e Eloba gāxaǃnâ ǁkhā-e? Xawe du ge sado tita gāxaǃnâ tsî ‘Mâti da ra gāxaǃnâ tsi?’ ti ra dî. Disiǁîǃâs tsî ǁguibas tsîra ǃnâ du ge ǁnāsa ra dī. 9 ǀÂxareb ge sadu ai ǁgoe, tita du ra gāxaǃnâ amaga, sadu hoaraga ǁaes dido. 10 Hoaraga disiǁîǃâsa sâuǃnâ-omsa ǃoa hā-ū re, în ǂûna ti ommi ǃnâ hâ, î ǁnās ǀkha tita ǃâitsâ, tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî. ǃÂitsâ te, î mû ise ta ǀhommi di mûǂuidaode ǁkhowa-am tsî ǃnāǂamsa ǀkhaeba ǁhōǂuiba du tidesa. 11 Tita ge ǂhomna nî ǁkhae, în sadu ǃhūb di ǂûna tā hîkākā, tsî sadu draibehaidi ge ǂûtanioǃnâ tide,”
tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî.12 “O di ge ǁaedi hoade sado ǃgâiǃgâxa khoese nî ǃgapaǀî, sadu ǃhūb ǃgâi ǃhūse nî ī xui-ao,”
tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî.Elob ge ǂgomǂgomsana ra mādawa-am
13 “Sadu ge ǁgaisi xūna tita xa ge ǃhoa,” tib ge ǃKhūba ra mî. “Xawe du ge ‘Tare-e da ge sats xa ǃhoa?’ ti ra dî. 14 Sadu ge ge mî: ‘Eloba ǃoabas ge a ǁau. Tare-e-i harebeba da hâ, nēsi da ga ǁîb di ǂgaoǀkhāde dīǀoaǀoas tamas ka io ǃoasaran ǃnâ ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixab di ais aiǃâ ǃgûs tsîna? 15 ǀGapiǂâixa khoen a ǃgâiǃgâxasa da ge ra mû. Tsūdī-aon ge ra ǃgâiǃgâ; ǁîn ge Eloban ra ǃâitsâ, xawe ra ûiǂoa.’ ”
16 On ge ǁnān ǃKhūba ra ǃaoǃgâna ǁîǃnābe ge ǃhoa-ūgu tsîb ge ǃKhūba ǁnāsa ǃgâ tsî ge ǁnâu. O i ge ǁîb di ais aiǃâ ǂkhanis ǃnâ ge xoamâihe, ǁnān ǃKhūba ra ǃaoǃgâ tsî ǁîb ǀonsa ra ǃgôana. 17 “ǁÎn ge nî ti” tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî. “ǁÎn ge tita ga hā tsēs ai nî ti ǃgomǀgausa ūhâxū kai. Tita ge ǁîna nî ǀkhomxaǃnâ, ǁgûb ra ǁîb ôab ǁîba ra ǃoababa ǀkhomxaǃnâ khami. 18 O du ge ǁkhawa ǃkharagagusiba nî mû, ǂhanu-ain tsî eloxoresan tsîn ǁaegu, Eloba ra ǃoaban tsî ǁîba ǃoaba taman tsîn ǁaegu.”
1 The Lord Almighty answers, “I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant.”
2 But who will be able to endure the day when he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. 3 He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver. As a metalworker refines silver and gold, so the Lord's messenger will purify the priests, so that they will bring to the Lord the right kind of offerings. 4 Then the offerings which the people of Judah and Jerusalem bring to the Lord will be pleasing to him, as they used to be in the past.
5 The Lord Almighty says, “I will appear among you to judge, and I will testify at once against those who practice magic, against adulterers, against those who give false testimony, those who cheat employees out of their wages, and those who take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners—against all who do not respect me.
The Payment of Tithes
6 “I am the Lord, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost. 7 You, like your ancestors before you, have turned away from my laws and have not kept them. Turn back to me, and I will turn to you. But you ask, ‘What must we do to turn back to you?’ 8 I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. ‘How?’ you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. 9 A curse is on all of you because the whole nation is cheating me. 10 Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things. 11 I will not let insects destroy your crops, and your grapevines will be loaded with grapes. 12 Then the people of all nations will call you happy, because your land will be a good place to live.
God's Promise of Mercy
13 “You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘What have we said about you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It's useless to serve God. What's the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the Lord Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done? 15 As we see it, proud people are the ones who are happy. Evil people not only prosper, but they test God's patience with their evil deeds and get away with it.’”
16 Then the people who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the Lord and respected him. 17 “They will be my people,” says the Lord Almighty. “On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them. 18 Once again my people will see the difference between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the person who serves me and the one who does not.”
