¹ See, I am sending my servant, and he will make ready the way before me; and the Lord, whom you are looking for, will suddenly come to his Temple; and the angel of the agreement, in whom you have delight, see, he is coming, says the Lord of armies.

² But by whom may the day of his coming be faced? and who may keep his place when he is seen? for he is like the metal-tester's fire and the cleaner's soap.

³ He will take his seat, testing and cleaning the sons of Levi, burning away the evil from them as from gold and silver; so that they may make offerings to the Lord in righteousness.

⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in days gone by, and as in past years.

⁵ And I will come near to you for judging; I will quickly be a witness against the wonder-workers, against those who have been untrue in married life, against those who take false oaths; against those who keep back from the servant his payment, and who are hard on the widow and the child without a father, who do not give his rights to the man from a strange country, and have no fear of me, says the Lord of armies.

⁶ For I am the Lord, I am unchanged; and so you, O sons of Jacob, have not been cut off.

⁷ From the days of your fathers you have been turned away from my rules and have not kept them. Come back to me, and I will come back to you, says the Lord of armies. But you say, How are we to come back?

⁸ Will a man keep back from God what is right? But you have kept back what is mine. But you say, What have we kept back from you? Tenths and offerings.

⁹ You are cursed with a curse; for you have kept back from me what is mine, even all this nation.

¹⁰ Let your tenths come into the store-house so that there may be food in my house, and put me to the test by doing so, says the Lord of armies, and see if I do not make the windows of heaven open and send down such a blessing on you that there is no room for it.

¹¹ And on your account I will keep back the locusts from wasting the fruits of your land; and the fruit of your vine will not be dropped on the field before its time, says the Lord of armies

¹² And you will be named happy by all nations: for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of armies.

¹³ Your words have been strong against me, says the Lord. And still you say, What have we said against you?

¹⁴ You have said, It is no use worshipping God: what profit have we had from keeping his orders, and going in clothing of sorrow before the Lord of armies?

¹⁵ And now to us the men of pride seem happy; yes, the evil-doers are doing well; they put God to the test and are safe.

¹⁶ Then those in whom was the fear of the Lord had talk together: and the Lord gave ear, and it was recorded in a book to be kept in mind before him, for those who had the fear of the Lord and gave thought to his name.

¹⁷ And they will be mine, says the Lord, in the day when I make them my special property; and I will have mercy on them as a man has mercy on his son who is his servant.

¹⁸ Then you will again see how the upright man is different from the sinner, and the servant of God from him who is not.

¹ You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

² The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

³ You therefore must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴ No soldier on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.

⁵ Also, if anyone competes in athletics, he isn't crowned unless he has competed by the rules.

⁶ The farmers who labor must be the first to get a share of the crops.

⁷ Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Good News,

⁹ in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains as a criminal. But God's word isn't chained.

¹⁰ Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones' sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

¹¹ This saying is faithful: "For if we died with him, we will also live with him.

¹² If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.

¹³ If we are faithless, he remains faithful. He can't deny himself."

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, charging them in the sight of the Lord, that they don't argue about words, to no profit, to the subverting of those who hear.

¹⁵ Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.

¹⁶ But shun empty chatter, for they will proceed further in ungodliness,

¹⁷ and their word will consume like gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;

¹⁸ men who have erred concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past, and overthrowing the faith of some.

¹⁹ However God's firm foundation stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness."

²⁰ Now in a large house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of clay. Some are for honor, and some for dishonor.

²¹ If anyone therefore purges himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and suitable for the master's use, prepared for every good work.

²² Flee from youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

²³ But refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they generate strife.

²⁴ The Lord's servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient,

²⁵ in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth,

²⁶ and they may recover themselves out of the devil's snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.