Malachi 1–4

The Lord’s Love for Israel

1An oracle: ^aThe word of the Lord ^bto Israel through ^cMalachi. ^d

²“I have loved you,” ^esays the Lord.

But you ask: “How have You loved us?”

“Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” ^fThis is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, ³but I hated Esau. ^gI turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.” ^h

⁴Though Edom says: “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild ⁱthe ruins,” the Lord of Hosts says this: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called a wicked country ^jand the people the Lord has cursed ^kforever. ^l5Your own eyes will see this, and you yourselves will say, ‘The Lord is great, even beyond ^mthe borders of Israel.’ ⁿ

Disobedience of the Priests

⁶“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me? ^osays Yahweh of Hosts to you priests, who despise My name.”

Yet you ask: “How have we despised Your name?”

⁷“By presenting defiled food on My altar.”

You ask: “How have we defiled You?” ^p

When you say: “The Lord’s table is contemptible.” ^q

⁸“When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? ^rBring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts. ⁹“And now ask for God’s favor. Will He be gracious to us? ^sSince this has come from your hands, will He show any of you favor?” ^tasks the Lord of Hosts. ¹⁰“I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, ^uso you would no longer kindle a useless fire on My altar! ^vI am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and I will accept ^wno offering from your hands. ^x

¹¹“For My name will be great among the nations, ^yfrom the rising of the sun to its setting. Incense ^zand pure offerings will be presented in My name in every place because My name will be great among the nations,” ^asays Yahweh of Hosts.

¹²But you are profaning it ^bwhen you say: “The Lord’s table is defiled, and its product, its food, is contemptible.” ¹³You also say: “Look, what a nuisance!” “And you scorn ^cit,” ^desays the Lord of Hosts. “You bring stolen, ^fglame, or sick animals. You bring this as an offering! Am I to accept that from your hands?” asks the Lord.

¹⁴“The deceiver is cursed who has an acceptable male in his flock and makes a vow but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. ^hFor I am a great King,” says Yahweh of Hosts, “and My name ⁱwill be feared among the nations.

Warning to the Priests

2“Therefore, this decree ^jis for you priests: ²If you don’t listen, and if you don’t take it to heart ^kto honor My name,” says Yahweh of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. ^lIn fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart.

³“Look, I am going to rebuke your descendants, ^mand I will spread animal waste ⁿover your faces, the waste from your festival sacrifices, ^oand you will be taken away with it. ⁴Then you will know that I sent you this decree so My covenant with Levi ^pmay continue,” says the Lord of Hosts. ⁵“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, ^qand I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. ^r6True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing wrong was found on his lips. He walked with Me ^sin peace and fairness and turned many from sin. ^t7For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. ^u

⁸“You, on the other hand, have turned from the way. ^vYou have caused many to stumble ^wby your instruction. You have violated ^xthe covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of Hosts. ⁹“So I in turn have made you despised ^yand humiliated before all the people because you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in your instruction.” ^z

Judah’s Marital Unfaithfulness

¹⁰Don’t all of us have one Father? ^aDidn’t one God create us? ^bWhy then do we act treacherously against one another, ^cprofaning ^dthe covenant of our fathers? ^e11Judah has acted treacherously, and a detestable ^fthing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned ^gthe Lord’s sanctuary, ^hiwhich He loves, ^jand has married the daughter of a foreign god. ^kl12To the man who does this, may the Lord cut off ^many descendants ^nopfrom the tents of Jacob, even if they present an offering to the Lord of Hosts.

¹³And this is another thing you do: you cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, ^qbecause He no longer respects your offerings or receives them gladly from your hands. ^r

¹⁴Yet you ask, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been a witness ^sbetween you and the wife of your youth. ^tYou have acted treacherously against her, though she was your marriage partner ^uand your wife by covenant. ^v15Didn’t the one God make us with a remnant of His life-breath? And what does the One seek? ^wA godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, ^xyand do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth.

¹⁶“If he hates ^zand divorces his wife, ^a” says the Lord God of Israel, “he ^bcovers his garment with injustice,” ^csays the Lord of Hosts. Therefore, watch yourselves carefully, ^dand do not act treacherously.

Judgment at the Lord’s Coming

¹⁷You have wearied the Lord ^ewith your words.

Yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?”

When you say, “Everyone who does what is evil is good in the Lord’s sight, and He is pleased with them,” ^for “Where is the God of justice?” ^g

3“See, I am going to send My messenger, ^hand he will clear the way before Me. ⁱThen the Lord you seek ^jwill suddenly come to His temple, ^kthe Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts. ²But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? ^lFor He will be like a refiner’s fire ^mand like cleansing lye. ⁿ³He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. ^oThen they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. ⁴And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old ^pand years gone by.

⁵“I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. ^qThey do not fear Me,” ^rsays the Lord of Hosts. ⁶“Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, ^syou descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. ^t

Robbing God

⁷“Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from My statutes; you have not kept them. ^uReturn to Me, ^vand I will return to you,” ^wsays the Lord of Hosts.

But you ask: “How can we return?”

⁸“Will a man rob ^xGod? Yet you are robbing Me!”

You ask: “How do we rob You?”

“By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. ^y9You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. ¹⁰Bring the full tenth into the storehouse ^zso that there may be food in My house. ^aTest Me in this way,” ^bsays the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven ^cand pour out a blessing for you without measure. ^d11I will rebuke the devourer ^effor you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the Lord of Hosts. ¹²“Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of Hosts.

The Righteous and the Wicked

¹³“Your words against Me are harsh,” ^gsays the Lord.

Yet you ask: “What have we spoken against You?”

¹⁴You have said: “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements ^hand walking mournfully ⁱbefore the Lord of Hosts? ¹⁵So now we consider the arrogant ^jto be fortunate. ^kNot only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God ^land escape.” ^m

¹⁶At that time those who feared the Lord spoke to one another. The Lord took notice and listened. So a book of remembrance ⁿwas written before Him for those who feared Yahweh and had high regard for His name. ¹⁷“They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, ^o“a special possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. ^p18So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

The Day of the Lord

4^q“For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Hosts, “not leaving them root or branches. ²But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, ^rand you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. ^s3You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Hosts.

A Final Warning

⁴“Remember the instruction of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb ^tfor all Israel. ⁵Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet ^ubefore the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes. ^v6wAnd he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. ^xOtherwise, I will come and strike the land ^ywith a curse.”