Malachi 2–3

2“And so then, O priests, this command is for you: ²If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart^a to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; moreover I have already cursed them because you are not taking it to heart.^{b 3}Look! I am going to rebuke your offspring,^c and I will scatter offal on your faces, the offal of your religious feasts, and you will be carried to it.^d

⁴“Then you will know that I have sent to you this command, that my covenant with Levi continues,”^e says Yahweh of hosts. ⁵“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. This required reverence, and he revered^f me and stood in awe before^g my name. ⁶The instruction of truth^h was in his mouth, and wickedness was not found on his lips. In peace and in uprightnessⁱ he walked with me, and he brought back many from sin.^{j 7}For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction^k from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts. ⁸But you, you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction;^l you have ruined the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. ⁹“And in turn I have made you despised and humbled before all the people, inasmuch as you are not keeping^m my way, but are favoring your own instruction.”ⁿ

Yahweh Hates Faithlessness

¹⁰Do we not all have^o one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we unfaithful to one another,^p profaning the covenant of our ancestors?^{q 11}Judah has been faithless, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign^r god. ¹²May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, the one who is awake and who answers, and the one who brings an offering to Yahweh of hosts!

¹³And this you do as well:^s you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because he^t no longer regards the offering^u or accepts it with favor from your hand. ¹⁴But you ask, “For what reason?”^v Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she is your marriage partner and your wife by covenant.^{w 15}Did not one God make them?^x But a remnant of the spirit is his.^y And what does the one God desire? An offspring of God.^z You must be attentive to^a your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶“For I hate divorce,”^b says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and he who covers his clothing with violence,” says Yahweh of hosts. “You must be attentive to^c your spirit and you must not be unfaithful.”

¹⁷You have wearied Yahweh with your words, but you ask, “With what have we wearied him?” You have done so when you say,^d “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight^e of Yahweh, and in them he delights,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Yahweh’s Messenger is Coming

3“Look! I am going to send my messenger,^a and he will prepare^b the way before me.^c And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come,” says Yahweh of hosts. ²And who can endure the day of his coming? And who is the one who can stand when he appears?^d For he is like a refiner’s fire, like launderers’ alkali.^{e 3}He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the children of Levi, and he will refine them like gold and like silver, and they will present to Yahweh offerings^f in righteousness. ⁴And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh, like in the days of old and like in former years.

⁵“Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear falsely,^g and against the oppressors of the hired worker with his wages, the widow and the orphan, and the abusers of^h the alien,ⁱ and yet do not fear me,” says Yahweh of hosts.

An Overflowing Blessing

⁶“For I, Yahweh, have not changed,^j and you, O children of Jacob, have not perished.^{k 7}From the days of your ancestors^l you have turned aside from my rules, and have not kept^m them! Return to me and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of hosts, “but you say, ‘How shall we return?’

⁸Will a human dare to rob God? Yet you are robbing me! And you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In the tithes and the contributions! ⁹You are being cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you! ¹⁰Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse,ⁿ so that there will be food in my house, and test me please in this,” says Yahweh of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you an overflowing blessing.^{o 11}I will rebuke the devourer^p for you; it will not destroy the fruit of your soil; your vine in the field will not be unfruitful,” says Yahweh of hosts. ¹²“And all the nations will call you blessed, because you will be a land in which one takes joy,”^q says Yahweh of hosts. ¹³“Your words have been harsh^r against me,” says Yahweh. “But you say, ‘How have we spoken together against you?’ ¹⁴You have said, ‘It is useless^s to serve God! What is the gain if we keep^t his requirements, and if we walk as mourners before^u Yahweh of hosts? ¹⁵And now we are calling the arrogant blessed! Not only do those who do wickedness prosper; they also test God and they escape!’ ”

A Book of Remembrance is Written

¹⁶Then those who revered^v Yahweh spoke with one another.^w And Yahweh listened attentively^x and heard, and a scroll of remembrance was written before him^y of those who revere^z Yahweh and ponder his name. ¹⁷“They will be mine,” says Yahweh of hosts, “on the day that I am acting, my treasured possession. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. ¹⁸You will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him.