The Living Bible (296 page)

Malachi
3

“Listen: I will send my messenger before me to prepare the way. And then the One
*
you are looking for will come suddenly to his Temple—the Messenger of God’s promises, to bring you great joy. Yes, he is surely coming,” says the Lord Almighty.
²
 “But who can live when he appears? Who can endure his coming? For he is like a blazing fire refining precious metal, and he can bleach the dirtiest garments!
³
 Like a refiner of silver he will sit and closely watch as the dross is burned away. He will purify the Levites, the ministers of God, refining them like gold or silver, so that they will do their work for God with pure hearts.
⁴
 Then once more the Lord will enjoy the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did before.
⁵
 At that time my punishments will be quick and certain; I will move swiftly against wicked men who trick the innocent, against adulterers and liars, against all those who cheat their hired hands, who oppress widows and orphans, or defraud strangers, and do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

    
⁶
 “For I am the Lord—I do not change. That is why you are not already utterly destroyed, for my mercy endures forever.
*

    
⁷
 “Though you have scorned my laws from earliest time, yet you may still return to me,” says the Lord Almighty. “Come and I will forgive you.

    
“But you say, ‘We have never even gone away!’

    
⁸
 “Will a man rob God? Surely not! And yet you have robbed me.

    
“‘What do you mean? When did we ever rob you?’

    
“You have robbed me of the tithes and offerings due me.
⁹
 And so the awesome curse of God is cursing you, for your whole nation has been robbing me.
¹⁰
 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be food enough in my Temple; if you do, I will open up the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great you won’t have room enough to take it in!

    
“Try it! Let me prove it to you!
¹¹
 Your crops will be large, for I will guard them from insects and plagues. Your grapes won’t shrivel away before they ripen,” says the Lord Almighty.
¹²
 “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land sparkling with happiness. These are the promises of the Lord Almighty.

    
¹³
 “Your attitude toward me has been proud and arrogant,” says the Lord.

    
“But you say, ‘What do you mean? What have we said that we shouldn’t?’

    
^14-15
 “Listen; you have said, ‘It is foolish to worship God and obey him. What good does it do to obey his laws, and to sorrow and mourn for our sins? From now on, as far as we’re concerned, “Blessed are the arrogant.” For those who do evil shall prosper, and those who dare God to punish them shall get off scot-free.’”

    
¹⁶
 Then those who feared and loved the Lord spoke often of him to each other. And he had a Book of Remembrance drawn up in which he recorded the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him.

    
¹⁷
 “They shall be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in that day when I make up my jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares an obedient and dutiful son.
¹⁸
 Then you will see the difference between God’s treatment of good men and bad, between those who serve him and those who don’t.

Malachi
4

“Watch now,” the Lord Almighty declares, “the day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. The proud and wicked will be burned up like straw; like a tree, they will be consumed—roots and all.

    
²
 “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.
³
 Then you will tread upon the wicked as ashes underfoot,” says the Lord Almighty.
⁴
 “Remember to obey the laws I gave all Israel through Moses my servant on Mount Horeb.

    
⁵
 “See, I will send you another prophet like Elijah
*
before the coming of the great and dreadful judgment day of God.
⁶
 His preaching will bring fathers and children together again, to be of one mind and heart, for they will know that if they do not repent, I will come and utterly destroy their land.”

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Matthew
1

These are the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David and of Abraham:

²
 Abraham was the father of Isaac; Isaac was the father of Jacob; Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.

³
 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (Tamar was their mother); Perez was the father of Hezron; Hezron was the father of Aram;

⁴
 Aram was the father of Amminadab; Amminadab was the father of Nahshon; Nahshon was the father of Salmon;

⁵
 Salmon was the father of Boaz (Rahab was his mother); Boaz was the father of Obed (Ruth was his mother); Obed was the father of Jesse;

⁶
 Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (his mother was the widow of Uriah);

⁷
 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam; Rehoboam was the father of Abijah; Abijah was the father of Asa;

⁸
 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat; Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram; Jehoram was the father of Uzziah;

⁹
 Uzziah was the father of Jotham; Jotham was the father of Ahaz; Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah;

¹⁰
 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh; Manasseh was the father of Amos; Amos was the father of Josiah;

¹¹
 Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).

¹²
 After the exile: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel; Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel;

¹³
 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud; Abiud was the father of Eliakim; Eliakim was the father of Azor;

¹⁴
 Azor was the father of Zadok; Zadok was the father of Achim; Achim was the father of Eliud;

¹⁵
 Eliud was the father of Eleazar; Eleazar was the father of Matthan; Matthan was the father of Jacob;

¹⁶
 Jacob was the father of Joseph (who was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ the Messiah).

    
¹⁷
 These are fourteen
*
of the generations from Abraham to King David; and fourteen from King David’s time to the exile; and fourteen from the exile to Christ.

    
¹⁸
 These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
¹⁹
 Then Joseph, her fiancé,
*
being a man of stern principle,
*
decided to break the engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn’t want to publicly disgrace her.

    
²⁰
 As he lay awake
*
considering this, he fell into a dream, and saw an angel standing beside him. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “don’t hesitate to take Mary as your wife! For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
²¹
 And she will have a Son, and you shall name him Jesus (meaning ‘Savior’), for he will save his people from their sins.
²²
 This will fulfill God’s message through his prophets—

²³
 
‘Listen! The virgin shall conceive a child!
She shall give birth to a Son, and he shall be called “Emmanuel” (meaning “God is with us”).’”

    
²⁴
 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel commanded and brought Mary home to be his wife,
²⁵
 but she remained a virgin until her Son was born; and Joseph named him “Jesus.”