Holman Christian Standard Bible (281 page)

8
 “You, on the other hand, have turned from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the
Lord
of Hosts.
9
 “So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people because you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in your instruction.” 

Judah's Marital Unfaithfulness

10
 Don't all of us have one Father? Didn't one God create us? Why then do we act treacherously against one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 
11
 Judah has acted treacherously, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the
Lord
's sanctuary, which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12
 To the man who does this, may the
Lord
cut off any descendants, from the tents of Jacob, even if they present an offering to the
Lord
of Hosts.

13
 And this is another thing you do: you cover the
Lord
's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because He no longer respects your offerings or receives them gladly from your hands. 

14
 Yet you ask, “For what reason? ” Because the
Lord
has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have acted treacherously against her, though she was your marriage partner and your wife by covenant. 
15
 Didn't the one God make us with a remnant of His life-breath? And what does the One seek? A godly
•offspring
. So watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth.

16
 “If he hates and divorces his wife, ” says the
Lord
God of Israel, “he covers his garment with injustice,” says the
Lord
of Hosts. Therefore, watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously.

Judgment at the
Lord
's Coming

17
 You have wearied the
Lord
 with your words.

Yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him? ”

When you say, “Everyone who does what is evil is good in the
Lord
's sight, and He is pleased with them,” or “Where is the God of justice? ” 

Malachi

3
“See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire — see, He is coming,” says the
Lord
of
•Hosts
.
2
 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner's fire and like cleansing lye. 
3
 He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the
Lord
in righteousness.
4
 And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the
Lord
as in days of old and years gone by.

5
 “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not
•fear
Me,” says the
Lord
of Hosts.
6
 “Because I,
•Yahweh
, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. 

Robbing God

7
 “Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from My statutes; you have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the
Lord
of Hosts.

But you ask: “How can we return? ”

8
 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! ”

You ask: “How do we rob You? ”

“By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. 
9
 You are suffering under a curse, yet you — the whole nation — are still robbing Me.
10
 Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the
Lord
of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. 
11
 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the
Lord
of Hosts.
12
 “Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the
Lord
of Hosts.

The Righteous and the Wicked

13
 “Your words against Me are harsh,” says the
Lord
.

Yet you ask: “What have we spoken against You? ”

14
 You have said: “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the
Lord
of Hosts?
15
 So now we consider the arrogant to be fortunate. Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God and escape.” 

16
 At that time those who feared the
Lord
spoke to one another. The
Lord
took notice and listened. So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared Yahweh and had high regard for His name.
17
 “They will be Mine,” says the
Lord
of Hosts, “a special possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. 
18
 So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

The Day of the
Lord

Chapter 4 

1
“For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the
Lord
of
•Hosts
, “not leaving them root or branches.
2
 But for you who
•fear
My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. 
3
 You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the
Lord
of Hosts.

A Final Warning

4
 “Remember the instruction of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5
 Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the
Lord
comes. 
6
 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Matthew

Matthew

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1
The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 

From Abraham to David

From David to the Babylonian Exile

From the Exile to the Messiah

17
 So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations. 

The Nativity of the Messiah

18
 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been
•engaged
to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 
19
 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 

20
 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. 
21
 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” 

22
 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

which is translated “God is with us.” 

24
 When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord's angel had commanded him. He married her 
25
 but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus. 

Matthew

Wise Men Seek the King

2
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King
•Herod
,
•wise
men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, 
2
 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 

3
 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4
 So he assembled all the
•chief
priests and
•scribes
 of the people and asked them where the
•Messiah
would be born.

5
 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

7
 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared.
8
 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”

9
 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was — the star they had seen in the east! It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.
10
 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure.
11
 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 
12
 And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

The Flight into Egypt

13
 After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.” 
14
 So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt.
15
 He stayed there until Herod's death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled:
Out of Egypt I called My Son.