But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner s fire or a launderer s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, (NIV) No one can live through that time; no one can survive when he comes. He will be like a purifying fire and like laundry soap. Like someone who heats and purifies silver, he will purify the Levites and make them pure like gold and silver. Then they will bring offerings to the LORD in the right way. (NCV) Malachi 3:2,3
These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. (NIV) These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is shown to you. (NCV) 1 Peter 1:7
This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, They are my people, and they will say, The LORD is our God. (NIV) The third that is left I will test with fire, purifying them like silver, testing them like gold. Then they will call on me, and I will answer them. I will say, You are my people, and they will say, The LORD is our God. (NCV) Zechariah 13:9
Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. (NIV) Many people will be made clean, pure, and spotless, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. Those wicked people will not understand these things, but the wise will understand them. (NCV) Daniel 12:10
Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. (NIV) Some of the wise ones will be killed. But the hard times must come so they can be made stronger and purer and without faults until the time of the end comes. Then, at the right time, the end will come. (NCV) Daniel 11:35
Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people? (NIV) So this is what the LORD All-Powerful says: I will test the people of Judah as a person tests metal in a fire. I have no other choice, because my people have sinned. (NCV) Jeremiah 9:7
See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. (NIV) I have made you pure, but not by fire, as silver is made pure. I have purified you by giving you troubles. (NCV) Isaiah 48:10
And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. (NIV) The LORD s words are pure, like silver purified by fire, like silver purified seven times over. (NCV) Psalm 12:6
re-fine [ri-fahyn] verb, -fined, -fin-ing. verb (used with object) 1. to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities: to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum. 2. to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured. 3. to bring to a finer state or form by purifying. 4. to make more fine, subtle, or precise: to refine one s writing style. verb (used without object) 5. to become pure. 6. to become more fine, elegant, or polished. 7. to make fine distinctions in thought or language. verb phrase 8. refine on or upon, to improve by inserting finer distinctions, superior elements, etc.: to refine on one s previous work. refine Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.
pu-ri-fy [pyoor-uh-fahy] verb, -fied, -fy-ing. verb (used with object) 1. to make pure; free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates: to purify metals. 2. to free from foreign, extraneous, or objectionable elements: to purify a language. 3. to free from guilt or evil. 4. to clear or purge (usually fol. by of or from). 5. to make clean for ceremonial or ritual use. verb (used without object) 6. to become pure. purify Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.
SUbstance Volume Four Photo by Erix, licenced under Creative Commons www.flickr.com/photos/erix/
Photo by Lachlan Hardy, licenced under Creative Commons www.flickr.com/photos/lachlanhardy/
Photo by Nick Johnson, licenced under Creative Commons www.flickr.com/photos/npj/