²“I have loved you,” says Yahweh, but you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is Esau not Jacob’s brother?” declares^d Yahweh. “I have loved Jacob, ³but Esau I have hated. I have made his^e mountain ranges a desolation, and given his inheritance to the jackals of the desert.” ⁴If Edom says, “We are shattered, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,” Yahweh of hosts says this: “They may build, but I will tear down; and they will be called a territory of wickedness, and the people with whom Yahweh is angry forever.” ⁵Your eyes will see this, and you will say, “Yahweh is great beyond the borders^f of Israel.”

An Oracle Against the Temple Priesthood

⁶“A son honors his father, and a slave his master;^g but if I am a father, where is my honor, and if I am a master,^h where is my reverence?” says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests, who despiseⁱ my name. “But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ ⁷You are presenting defiled food on my altar! But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the table of Yahweh is despised! ⁸When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice, is that not wrong?^j And when you offer the lame and the one who is ill, is that not wrong?^k Present it, please, to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Will he show you favor?”^l says Yahweh of hosts. ⁹So then, implore the favor of God^m so that he will be gracious to us. “This is what you have done.ⁿ Will he show favor to any of you?”^o says Yahweh of hosts. ¹⁰“Who also among you will shut the temple doors so that you will not kindle fire in vain on my altar? I take no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and I will not accept^p an offering from your hand. ¹¹From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is being presented to my name, and a pure offering. For my name is great among the nations,” says Yahweh of hosts. ¹²“But you are profaning it by saying the table of the Lord is defiled, and its fruit—its food^q—is despised! ¹³And you say, ‘Look! This is a weariness,’ and you sniff with disdain at it,” says Yahweh of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the one that is sick—this you bring as the offering! Should I accept it^r from your hand?” says Yahweh. ¹⁴“Cursed is the one who cheats, who has in his flock a male and vows it, but instead sacrifices a blemished one to the Lord! For I am a great king,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

aLiterally “A burden”
bLiterally “by the hand of”
cThe name “Malachi” means “my messenger” in Hebrew
dLiterally “declaration of”
eThat is, “Esau’s”
fHebrew “boundary”
gHebrew “masters”
hHebrew “masters”
iLiterally “despisers of”
jOr “is there no wrong?”
kOr “is there no wrong?”
lLiterally “Will he lift your face?”
mLiterally “appease, please, the face of God”
nLiterally “From your hand was this”
oLiterally “will he lift up from you a face”
pLiterally “I will not take pleasure in”
qThe Hebrew here is difficult; “its food” may function to explain “its fruit”
rLiterally “take pleasure in it”