A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Malachi3:1-4, 23-24
Thus says the Lord God:/Lo, I am sending my messenger/ to prepare the way before me;/ And suddenly there will come to the temple/ the Lord whom you seek,/ And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire./ Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts./ But who will endure the day of his coming?/ And who can stand when he appears?/ For he is like the refiner’s fire,/ or like the fuller’s lye./ He will sit refining and purifying silver,/ and he will purify the sons of Levi,/ Refining them like gold or like silver/ that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord./ Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem/ will please the Lord,/ as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
Lo, I will send you/ Elijah, the prophet,/ Before the day of the Lord comes,/ the great and terrible day,/ To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,/ and the hearts of the children to their fathers,/ Lest I come and strike/ the land with doom.
The word of the Lord.
