Malachi 1–4

1The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.¹

The Lord’s Love for Israel

^2a“I have loved you,” says the Lord. ^bBut you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau ^cJacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet ^dI have loved Jacob ³but Esau I have hated. ^eI have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” ⁴If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’ ” ^5fYour own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”

The Priests’ Polluted Offerings

^6g“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am ^ha father, where is my honor? And if I am ⁱa master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. ^bBut you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ ^7jBy offering polluted food upon my altar. ^bBut you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that ^kthe Lord’s table may be despised. ^8lWhen you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts. ⁹And now ^mentreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, ⁿwill he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. ^10oOh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, ^pand I will not accept an offering from your hand. ¹¹For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name ^qwill be² great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name ^qwill be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. ¹²But you profane it when you say that ^rthe Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised. ¹³But you say, ^s‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. ^tYou bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. ¹⁴Cursed be the cheat who has ^ua male in his flock, and ^vvows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For ^wI am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name ^xwill be feared among the nations.

The Lord Rebukes the Priests

2“And now, ^yO priests, ^zthis command is for you. ^2aIf you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send ^bthe curse upon you and I will curse ^cyour blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. ³Behold, ^dI will rebuke your offspring,¹ and ^espread dung on your faces, the ^fdung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.^{2 4}So shall you know that I have sent ^gthis command to you, that ^hmy covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. ⁵My covenant with him was one of life and ⁱpeace, and I gave them to him. ^jIt was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. ^6kTrue instruction³ was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he ^lturned many from iniquity. ⁷For ^mthe lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people⁴ should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. ⁸But you have turned aside from the way. ⁿYou have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted ^othe covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, ⁹and so ^pI make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but ^qshow partiality in your instruction.”

Judah Profaned the Covenant

¹⁰Have we not all ^rone Father? Has not ^sone God created us? Why then are we ^tfaithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹Judah has been ^tfaithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For ^uJudah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹²May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant⁵ of the man who does this, who ^vbrings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³And this second thing you do. ^wYou cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ^14xBut you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ^ywas witness between you and the wife of your youth, ^zto whom ^tyou have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ^15aDid he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?⁶ And what was the one God⁷ seeking?^{8 b}Godly offspring. So guard yourselves⁹ in your spirit, and let none of you be ^tfaithless to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶“For ^cthe man who does not love his wife but divorces her,¹⁰ says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers¹¹ his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and ^tdo not be faithless.”

The Messenger of the Lord

^17dYou have wearied the Lord with your words. ^xBut you say, “How have we wearied him?” ^eBy saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, ^f“Where is the God of justice?”

3^g“Behold, I send ^hmy messenger, and ⁱhe will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^jwhom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^kthe messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ²But ^lwho can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For ^mhe is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³He will sit ⁿas a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring ^oofferings in righteousness to the Lord.^{1 4p}Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

⁵“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be ^qa swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those ^rwho oppress the hired worker in his wages, ^sthe widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Robbing God

⁶“For ^tI the Lord do not change; ^utherefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ^7vFrom the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. ^wReturn to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^xBut you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. ^xBut you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ ^yIn your tithes and contributions. ^9zYou are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ^10aBring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby ^bput me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open ^cthe windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹I will rebuke ^dthe devourer² for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. ¹²Then ^eall nations will call you blessed, for you will be ^fa land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

^13g“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. ^hBut you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ ¹⁴You have said, ⁱ‘It is vain to serve God. ^jWhat is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? ¹⁵And now we call ^kthe arrogant blessed. ^kEvildoers not only prosper but ^lthey put God to the test and they escape.’ ”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶Then those who feared the Lord ^mspoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and ⁿa book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ¹⁷“They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, ^oin the day when I make up ^pmy treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸Then once more you shall ^qsee the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

The Great Day of the Lord

4¹ “For behold, ^rthe day is coming, ^sburning like an oven, when ^tall the arrogant and ^tall evildoers ^uwill be stubble. The day that is coming ^ushall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ²But for you ^vwho fear my name, ^wthe sun ^xof righteousness shall rise ^ywith healing in its wings. You shall go out ^zleaping like calves from the stall. ³And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, ^aon the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

^4b“Remember ^cthe law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules² that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

^5d“Behold, I will send you ^eElijah the prophet ^fbefore the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶And he will ^gturn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^hstrike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”³