Malachi 1–4

1^*aThe burden of the word of the Lord to ^bIsrael ^†by Malachi.

^2cI have loved you, saith the Lord.

^rYet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?

^dWas not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord:

Yet ^eI loved Jacob,

³And I ^fhated Esau,

And ^glaid his mountains and his heritage ^hwaste for ⁱthe dragons of the wilderness.

⁴Whereas Edom saith, We are ^jimpoverished,

But we will return and build the desolate places;

Thus saith the Lord of hosts,

^dThey shall build, but I will throw down;

And they shall call them, ^kThe border of wickedness,

And, ^lThe people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.

⁵And ^myour eyes shall see, and ye shall say,

ⁿThe Lord will be magnified ^||†from ^kthe border of Israel.

^6oA son honoureth his father, and a servant his master:

^pIf then I be a father, where is mine honour?

And if ^qI be a master, where is my fear?

Saith the Lord of hosts unto you, ^qqO priests, that despise my name.

^rAnd ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

⁷Ye ^||soffer ^tpolluted ^ubread upon mine altar;

^rAnd ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee?

In that ye say, ^vThe table of the Lord is contemptible.

⁸And if ye ^soffer ^wthe blind ^†for sacrifice, is it not evil?

And if ye offer ^wthe lame and sick, is it not evil?

Offer it now unto ^xthy governor;

Will he be pleased with thee, or ^yaccept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.

⁹And now, I pray you, beseech ^†God that he will be gracious unto us:

^zThis hath been ^†by your means:

Will he ^yregard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts.

^10aWho is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought?

Neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought.

I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts,

^bNeither will I accept an offering at your hand.

¹¹For ^cfrom the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same

^dMy name shall be great ^eamong the Gentiles;

And ^fin every place ^gincense shall be ^hoffered unto my name, and ⁱa pure ^koffering:

For ^dmy name shall be great ^eamong the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹²But ye have profaned it, in that ye say,

^lThe table of the Lord is polluted;

And the fruit thereof, even his meat, ^lis contemptible.

¹³Ye said also, Behold, ^mwhat a weariness is it!

^||And ⁿye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts;

And ye brought that which was ^otorn, and ^pthe lame, and ^pthe sick;

Thus ye brought an offering:

^qShould I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.

¹⁴But cursed be the deceiver, ^†which hath in his flock ^ra male,

And voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord ^sa corrupt thing:

For I am ^ta great King, saith the Lord of hosts,

And my name is ^tdreadful among the heathen.

2And now, ^aO ye priests, this commandment is for you.

^2bIf ye will not hear, and if ye will not ^clay it to heart,

To give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts,

^dI will even send ^dea curse upon you, and I will curse ^fyour blessings:

Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not ^clay it to heart.

³Behold, ^gI will ^||corrupt your seed,

And ^h†spread dung upon your faces, even ⁱthe dung of your ^ksolemn feasts;

And ^||ilone shall take you away with it.

⁴And ye shall know that I have sent ^mthis commandment unto you,

That ⁿmy covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

^5noMy covenant was with him of life and ^opeace;

And I gave them to him ^pfor the fear wherewith he feared me,

And was afraid before my name.

^6qThe law of truth was in his mouth,

And iniquity was not found in his lips:

He walked with me in peace and ^requity,

And ^sdid turn many away from iniquity.

^7tFor the priest’s ^ulips should keep knowledge,

And ^tthey should seek the law at his mouth:

For he is ^vthe messenger of the Lord of hosts.

⁸But ye are departed out of the way;

Ye ^whave caused many to ^||stumble at the law;

Ye have corrupted ⁿthe covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁹Therefore ^xhave I also made you contemptible and base before all the people,

^yAccording as ye have not kept my ways,

But ^||†zhave been partial in the law.

^10aHave we not all one father?

^bHath not one God created us?

Why do we ^cdeal treacherously every man against his brother,

^dBy profaning the covenant of our fathers?

¹¹Judah hath ^cdealt treacherously,

And an abomination is committed in ^eIsrael and in Jerusalem;

For Judah hath profaned ^fthe holiness of the Lord which he ^||loved,

^gAnd hath ^hmarried ⁱthe daughter of a strange god.

¹²The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, ^||the master and ^mthe scholar,

Out of the tabernacles of Jacob,

And ⁿhim that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts.

¹³And this have ye done again,

Covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out,

Insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more,

Or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

^14oYet ye say, Wherefore?

Because ^pthe Lord hath been witness between thee and ^qthe wife of thy youth,

Against whom thou hast ^cdealt treacherously:

Yet is she ^rthy companion, and ^rthe wife of thy covenant.

¹⁵And ^sdid not he make one? Yet had he the ^||residue of the spirit.

And wherefore one? That he might seek ^†ta godly seed.

^uTherefore take heed to your spirit,

And let none ^cdeal ^||treacherously against ^qthe wife of his youth.

¹⁶For ^vthe Lord, the God of Israel, saith ^||that he hateth ^†putting away:

For one covereth violence ^wwith his garment, saith the Lord of hosts:

^uTherefore take heed to your spirit, that ye ^cdeal not treacherously.

^17xYe have wearied the Lord ^ywith your words.

^oYet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him?

^yWhen ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord,

And ^zhe delighteth in them;

Or, ^aWhere is the God of judgment?

3^aBehold, I will send ^bmy messenger, and ^che shall prepare the way before me:

And the Lord, ^dwhom ye seek, ^eshall suddenly come to his temple,

Even ^fthe messenger of the covenant, ^dwhom ye delight in:

Behold, ^ehe shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

²But ^gwho may abide ^hthe day of his coming?

And ⁱwho shall stand when he appeareth?

For ^khe is like ^la refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ ^msoap:

³And he shall sit as ^la refiner and purifier of silver:

And he shall purify ⁿthe sons of Levi, and ^opurge them as gold and silver,

That they may ^poffer unto the Lord an offering ^qin righteousness.

⁴Then shall ^rthe offering of Judah and Jerusalem ^sbe pleasant unto the Lord,

As in the days of old, and as in ^||former years.

⁵And I will come near to you to judgment;

And ^tI will be a swift ^uwitness

Against ^vthe sorcerers, and against ^twthe adulterers, and against ^xfalse swearers,

And against ^ythose that ^||zoppress the hireling in his wages,

^aThe widow, and ^athe fatherless,

And ^bthat turn aside ^acthe stranger from his right, and fear not me,

Saith the Lord of hosts.

⁶For I am the Lord, ^dI change not;

^eTherefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

^7fEven from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.

^gReturn unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.

^hBut ye said, Wherein shall we return?

⁸Will a man ⁱrob God? Yet ye have ⁱrobbed me.

^hBut ye say, Wherein have we ⁱrobbed thee?

In ^ktithes and ^lofferings.

⁹Ye are cursed with ^ma curse: for ye have ⁱrobbed me,

Even this whole nation.

¹⁰ⁿBring ye all the tithes into ^pthe storehouse,

That there may be ^qmeat in mine house,

And ^rprove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts,

If I will not ^sopen you the windows of heaven,

And ^†pour you out ^ta blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

¹¹And I will rebuke ^uthe devourer for your sakes,

And he shall not ^†destroy the fruits of your ground;

Neither ^vshall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹²And ^wall nations shall call you blessed:

For ye shall be ^xa delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.

^13yYour words have been stout against me, saith the Lord.

^hYet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

^14yzYe have said, ^aIt is vain to serve God:

And ^awhat profit is it that we have ^bkept ^†his ordinance,

And that we have walked ^†mournfully before the Lord of hosts?

^15cAnd now we ^dcall ^ethe proud happy;

^cYea, ^ethey that work wickedness ^†are set up;

^cYea, they that ^ftempt God are even delivered.

¹⁶Then ^gthey that feared the Lord ^hspake often one to another:

And the Lord hearkened, and heard it,

And ⁱa book of remembrance was written before him

For ^gthem that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

¹⁷And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts,

^kIn that day when ^lI make up my ^||mjewels;

And ⁿI will spare them, ^oas a man spareth his own son ^pthat serveth him.

¹⁸Then shall ye return, and ^qdiscern between the righteous and the wicked,

^qBetween him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

4For, behold, ^athe day cometh, ^bthat shall burn ^cas an oven;

And all ^dthe proud, yea, and all ^dthat do wickedly, ^eshall be stubble:

And ^fthe day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts,

That it shall ^gleave them neither ^hroot nor branch.

²But unto you ⁱthat fear my name shall ^kthe Sun of ^lrighteousness arise

^mWith healing in ⁿhis wings;

And ye shall go forth, and ^ogrow up ^pas calves of the stall.

³And ^fqye shall tread down the wicked;

For ^qrthey shall be ashes under the soles of your feet

In the day that ^sI shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁴Remember ye ^tthe law of Moses ^umy servant,

Which I commanded unto him ^vin Horeb for all Israel,

With ^wthe statutes and judgments.

^5xBehold, I will send you ^yElijah the prophet

^zBefore the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

⁶And he shall ^aturn the heart of the fathers to the children,

And the heart of the children to their fathers,

Lest I come and ^bsmite the earth ^cwith a curse.