Malachi 2–3

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.