CHAPTER XI.

23:14 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had expounded all the Scriptures in one, which they had written, he commanded them that they should teach the things which he had expounded unto them. 24:1 And it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written, he expounded them. And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi:¹

Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me:
and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, he shall come,
saith the Lord of hosts.
24:2 But who may abide the day of his coming?
and who shall stand when he appeareth?
for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.
24:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifyer of silver:
and he shall purify the sons of Levi,
and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
24:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord,
as in the days of old, and as in former years.
24:5 And I will come near to you to judgment:
and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
and against the adulterers,
and against false swearers,
and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages,
the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger, and fear not me,
saith the Lord of hosts.
24:6 For I am the Lord, I change not;
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
24:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances,
and have not kept them.
Return unto me, and I will return unto you,
saith the Lord of hosts.
But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
24:8 Will a man rob God?
Yet ye have robbed me.
But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?
In tithes and offerings.
24:9 Ye are cursed with a curse:
for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
24:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in my house,
and prove me now herewith,
saith the Lord of hosts,
if I will not open you the windows of heaven,
and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
24:11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
and² he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground;
neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field,
saith the Lord of hosts.
24:12 And all nations shall call you blessed:
for ye shall be a delightsome land,
saith the Lord of hosts.
24:13 Your words have been stout against me,
saith the³ Lord.
Yet ye say, What have we spoken against thee?
24:14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God:
and what doth it profit that we have kept his ordinance,⁴
and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?
24:15 And now we call the proud happy;
yea, they that work wickedness are set up;
yea, them that tempt God are even delivered.
24:16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another:
and the Lord hearkened, and heard:
and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord;
and that thought upon his name.
24:17 And they shall be mine,
saith the Lord of hosts,
in that day when I make up my jewels;
and I will spare them,
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
24:18 Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
25:1 For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;
and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble:
and the day that cometh shall burn them up,
saith the Lord of hosts,
that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
25:2 But unto you that fear my name,
shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing⁵ in his wings;
and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of⁶ the stall.
25:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked;
for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this,
saith the Lord of hosts.
25:4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant,
which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel,
with the statutes and judgments.
25:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
25:6 and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. 

26:1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had told these things, he expounded them unto the multitude: and he did expound all things unto them, both great and small. 26:2 And he saith, These Scriptures which ye had not with you, the Father commanded that I should give unto you: for it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto future generations. 26:3 And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory; yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt⁷ with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens⁸ and the earth should pass away; 26:4 and even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil: 26:5 if they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation, being on a parallel, the one on the one hand, and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, which was before the world began.

NOTES