The LORD declared His love for Jacob,

Yet Edom rose against His word.

At altars stained with careless worship,

The blind and broken beasts were brought.

The priests had traded truth for favor,

Their lips no longer guarded light.

The covenant of Levi shattered,

And many stumbled in the night.

Who can endure the day of His coming?

Who will remain when the fire draws near?

He will refine the sons of Levi,

Till righteous offerings reappear.

Judah profaned the holy covenant,

Faithless hearts had filled the land.

Tears fell heavily upon the altar,

While vows were broken hand by hand.

They asked, “Where is the God of judgment?”

While calling darkness something good.

But every word was heard in heaven,

And every hidden motive stood.

A messenger will clear the pathway,

Then suddenly the Lord will come.

Refiner’s fire and cleansing soap,

Will test the deeds that men have done.

They robbed the LORD and sealed their storehouses,

Yet mercy called them to return.

The windows of the heavens waited,

With blessing greater than they earned.

Those who feared the LORD spoke together,

Their names remembered before His throne.

A treasured people in the darkness,

The righteous marked out as His own.

Who can endure the day of His coming?

Pride will fall like stubble in flame.

But the Sun of righteousness rises,

With healing carried in His rays.

Remember Moses and the covenant.

Elijah comes before that day,

Turning the hearts of fathers and children,

Before the silence falls away.

Malachi leaves the warning burning,

The coming Messenger will make the way.