3. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the lord.
4. Then once more the lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.
5. “At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the lord of Heaven’s Armies.
6. “I am the lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.
7. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the lord of Heaven’s Armies.“But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’