Malachi 3:13-21

New Catholic Bible

^13 [a]You have spoken harsh words against me,
    says the Lord.
Yet you ask,
    “What have we said against you?”
¹⁴ You have said,
    “It is useless to serve God.
What do we profit by keeping his commands
    or by going about in penitential garb
    before the Lord of hosts?
¹⁵ For our part,
    we regard the arrogant as happy.
Evildoers not only prosper,
    but when they put God to the test,
    they come to no harm.”
¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord
    spoke with one another.
The Lord listened attentively,
    and a book of remembrance was written before him
of those who feared him
    and trusted in his name.
¹⁷ They shall be mine,
    says the Lord of hosts,
my own special possession
    on the day when I act,
and I will have compassion on them
    as a father has compassion
    on the son who serves him.
¹⁸ Then you will once again see the difference
    between the just and the wicked,
between the one who serves God
    and the one who refuses to serve him.
¹⁹ For look, the day that is coming
    will blaze like a furnace,
and all the proud and all the evildoers
    will be stubble.
And the day that is coming
    will set them ablaze,
leaving them neither root nor branch,
    says the Lord of hosts.
²⁰ But for you who fear my name
    the sun of justice will arise
    with its healing rays.
You will emerge leaping
    like calves released from the stall
²¹     and tread down the wicked.
They will be ashes
    under the soles of your feet
on the day when I act,
    says the Lord of hosts.