Whereas Edom, may say, We are laid waste, but we will again build the desolate places, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, They, may build, but, I, will pull down, - and men shall call them, The Boundary of Lawlessness, and, The people with whom Yahweh hath indignation unto times age-abiding;

A son, will honour a father, and, a servant, his lord, - If then, a father, I am, where is mine honour? And, if, a lord, I am, where is my reverence? saith Yahweh of hosts - to you, ye priests, who despise my Name, and yet say, Wherein have we despised thy Name?

And when ye bring near the blind as a sacrifice, saying - No harm! or when ye bring near the lame or the sick saying - No harm! Offer it, I pray you, unto thy pasha, Will he accept thee? or lift up thy countenance? saith Yahweh of hosts.

Now, therefore, pacify, I pray you, the face of GOD, that he may grant us favour, - at your hands, hath this come to pass, Will he lift up the countenances, of any of you? saith Yahweh of hosts.

Who is there, even among you, that will shut the doors, so as not to set light to mine altar, for nothing? I can take no pleasure in you, saith Yahweh of hosts, and, your present, can I not accept at your hand.

If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my Name, saith Yahweh of hosts, then will I send among you the curse, and will curse your blessings, - and indeed I have cursed them, because ye are not at all laying it to heart.

Behold me! threatening, on your account, the seed, and I will scatter refuse upon your faces, the refuse of your festivals, - and one shall carry you away unto it;

Therefore, I also, will suffer you to be despised and of no account unto all the people, - in proportion as none of you have been keeping my ways, but have had respect to persons, in giving your deliverance.

And, this, a second time, will ye do, covering with tears, the altar of Yahweh, weeping and making outcry, - because he will not again turn unto the gift, and receive it with acceptance, at your hands?

Behold me! sending my messenger, who will prepare a way before me, - and, suddenly, shall come to his temple The Lord whom ye are seeking, even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye are delighting, Lo! he cometh! saith Yahweh of hosts.

Therefore will he sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and will purify the sons of Levi, and will smelt them, as gold and as silver; so shall they belong to Yahweh, offering a gift in righteousness.

Therefore will I draw near unto you for judgment, and will become a swift witness against the mutterers of incantations, and against the adulterers, and against them that swear to a falsehood, - and against them who rob the hire of the hireling, the widow and the fatherless, and that drive away the sojourner, and do not revere me, saith Yahweh of hosts.

Will, a son of earth, defraud, God? Nevertheless, ye, have been defrauding me, and yet ye say, Wherein have we defrauded thee? In the tithe and the offering.

Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, Yea, I pray you, put me to the proof hereby, saith Yahweh of hosts, whether I will not open to you the sluices of the heavens, and pour out for you blessing, until there be no room.

Then will I rebuke, for you, the devourer that he spoil not, for you, the fruit of the ground, - neither shall the vine in the field, be barren to you, saith Yahweh of hosts.

Therefore shall they be mine, saith Yahweh of hosts, in the day for which, I, am preparing treasure, - and I will deal tenderly with them, just as a man, dealeth tenderly, with his own son who is serving him.