Malachi 3 - 4, Revelation 22, Song of Songs 8

The Messenger and the Lord

3“^aBehold, I am going to send ^bMy ¹messenger, and he will ²^,^cprepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; ³and the ⁴^,^dmessenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says Yahweh of hosts. ²“But who can ^aendure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^bsmelter’s fire and like ¹fullers’ soap. ³“And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will ^apurify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^bpresent to Yahweh ¹offerings in righteousness. ⁴“Then the ¹offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ^apleasing to Yahweh as in the ^bancient days and as in former years.

⁵“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the ^asorcerers and against the ^badulterers and against those who ^cswear falsely and against those who oppress the ^dwage earner in his wages, the ^ewidow and the ¹orphan, and those who turn aside the ^fsojourner and do not ²fear Me,” says Yahweh of hosts. ⁶“For ¹I, Yahweh, ^ado not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, ²are not consumed.

You Have Robbed God

⁷“From the ^adays of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. ^bReturn to Me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

⁸“Will a man ¹rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In ^atithes and ²contributions. ⁹“You are ^acursed with a curse, for you are ¹robbing Me, the whole nation of you! ¹⁰“^aBring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be ¹food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says Yahweh of hosts, “if I will not ^bopen for you the windows of heaven and ^cempty out for you a blessing until ²^,^dit is beyond enough. ¹¹“Then I will rebuke the ^adevourer for you so that it will not corrupt the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field ¹fail to bear,” says Yahweh of hosts. ¹²“^aSo all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a ^bdelightful land,” says Yahweh of hosts.

Arrogant Words

¹³“Your words have been strong against Me,” says Yahweh. “But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ ¹⁴“You have said, ‘It is ^aworthless to serve God; and what ^bgain is it that we have kept His charge and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts? ¹⁵‘So now we ^acall the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and ^bescape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶Then those who ¹feared Yahweh spoke to one another, and Yahweh ^agave heed and heard it, and a ^bbook of remembrance was written before Him for those who ²fear Yahweh and who think upon His name. ¹⁷“And they will be ^aMine,” says Yahweh of hosts, “on the ^bday that I ¹prepare My ²^,^cown treasured possession, and I will ³spare them as a man ⁴^,^dspares his own son who serves him.” ¹⁸So you will return and ^asee the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

The Great Day of Yahweh

4“¹For behold, the day is coming, ^aburning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be ^bchaff; and the day that is coming will ^cset them aflame,” says Yahweh of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” ²“But for you who ¹fear My name, the ^asun of righteousness will rise with ^bhealing in its wings; and you will go forth and ^cskip about like calves from the stall. ³“And you will ^atread down the wicked, for they will be ^bashes under the soles of your feet ^con the day ¹which I am preparing,” says Yahweh of hosts.

⁴“¹^,^aRemember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

⁵“Behold, I am going to send you ^aElijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. ⁶“And he will ^aturn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and ^bstrike the land, ¹devoting it to destruction.”

The River and the Tree of Life

22Then ^ahe showed me a ^briver of the ^cwater of life, bright ^das crystal, coming from the throne of God and of ¹the Lamb, ²in the middle of ^aits street. ^bOn either side of the river was ^cthe tree of life, bearing twelve ¹kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³^aAnd there will no longer be any curse; and ^bthe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will ^cserve Him; ⁴and they will ^asee His face, and His ^bname will be on their ^cforeheads. ⁵And ^athere will no longer be any night, and they ¹will not have need ^bof the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will ^creign forever and ever.

⁶And ^ahe said to me, “^bThese words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the ^cGod of the spirits of the prophets, ^dsent His angel to show to His slaves the things which must soon take place.

⁷“And behold, ^aI am coming quickly. ^bBlessed is he who keeps ^cthe words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸^aI, John, am the one who was hearing and seeing these things. And when I heard and saw, ^bI fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. ⁹But ^ahe *said to me, “¹Do not do that! I am a ^bfellow slave with you and your brothers the prophets and with those who keep the words of ^cthis book. Worship God!”

The Final Message: Come

¹⁰And he *said to me, “^aDo not seal up ^bthe words of the prophecy of this book, ^cfor the time is near. ¹¹“^aLet the one who does unrighteousness, still do unrighteousness; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still do righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”

¹²“Behold, ^aI am coming quickly, and My ^breward is with Me, ^cto render to every man ¹according to his work. ¹³“I am the ^aAlpha and the Omega, ^bthe first and the last, ^cthe beginning and the end.”

¹⁴Blessed are those who ^awash their robes, so that they may have the authority to ^bthe tree of life and may ^center by the ^dgates into the city. ¹⁵^aOutside are the ^bdogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

¹⁶“^aI, Jesus, sent ^bMy angel to bear witness to you of these things ¹^,^cfor the churches. I am ^dthe root and the ^edescendant of David, the bright ^fmorning star.”

¹⁷And the ^aSpirit and the ^bbride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And ^clet the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes receive the ^dwater of life without cost.

¹⁸I bear witness to everyone who hears ^athe words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone ^badds to them, God will add to him ^cthe plagues which are written in ^dthis book. ¹⁹And if anyone ^atakes away from the ^bwords of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from ^cthe tree of life and ¹from the holy city, ^dwhich are written in this book.

²⁰He who ^abears witness to these things says, “Yes, ^bI am coming quickly.” Amen. ^cCome, Lord Jesus.

²¹^aThe grace of the Lord Jesus be with ¹all. Amen.

The Power and Preciousness of Love

8“Oh that you were like a brother to meWho nursed at my mother’s breasts.If I found you outside, I would kiss you;No one would despise me, either.²“I would lead you and ^abring youInto the house of my mother, who used to teach me;I would give you spiced wine to drink from the sweet wine of my pomegranates.³“Let ^ahis left hand be under my headAnd his right hand embrace me.”⁴“¹^,^aI call you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,²Why should you arouse or awaken my loveUntil ³she pleases?”⁵“¹^,^aWho is this coming up from the wildernessLeaning on her beloved?”“²Beneath the ³^,^bapple tree I awakened you;There your mother was in labor with you;There she was in labor and gave you birth.⁶“Put me like a ¹seal over your heart,Like a ^aseal on your arm.For love is as strong as death,²^,^bJealousy is as severe as Sheol;Its flashes are flashes of fire,³The very flame of ⁴Yah.⁷“Many waters cannot quench love,Nor will rivers overflow it;^aIf a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,It would be utterly despised.”⁸“¹We have a little sister,And she ^ahas no breasts;What shall we do for our sisterOn the day when she is spoken for?⁹“If she is a wall,We will build on her a battlement of silver;But if she is a door,We will barricade her with ^aplanks of cedar.”¹⁰“¹I was a wall, and ^amy breasts were like towers;Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.¹¹“Solomon had a ^avineyard at Baal-hamon;He ^bgave the vineyard to ^ccaretakers.Each one was to bring ¹one ^dthousand shekels of silver for its ^efruit.¹²“My very own vineyard is before me;The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”¹³“¹O you who sit in the gardens,My ^acompanions are giving heed to your voice—^bLet me hear it!”¹⁴“¹^,²Hurry, my beloved,And be ^alike a gazelle or a young ³stagOn the ^bmountains of spices.”