Malachi 1

CHAPTER 1

Yahweh’s Love for Jacob

¹The ^1aoracle of the word of ²Yahweh to ^bIsrael by the hand of ³Malachi.

²“I have ^aloved you,” says Yahweh. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares Yahweh. “Yet I ^bhave loved Jacob;

³but I have hated Esau, and I have ^aset his mountains to be a desolation and his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

⁴Though Edom says, “We have been ^ademolished, but we will ^1breturn and build up the waste places”; thus says Yahweh of hosts, “They may ^cbuild, but I will pull down; and men will call them a ²territory of wickedness, and the people ³toward whom Yahweh is indignant ^dforever.”

⁵And your eyes will see this, and you will say, “^aYahweh ¹be magnified beyond the ²territory of Israel!”

The Priests Defile Yahweh

⁶“‘A son ^ahonors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a ^bfather, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?’ says Yahweh of hosts to you, O ^cpriests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

⁷“You are presenting ^adefiled ^1bfood upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The ^ctable of Yahweh is to be despised.’

⁸“But when you present the ^ablind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Please, bring it near to your ^bgovernor! Would he accept you? Or would he lift up your face?” says Yahweh of hosts.

⁹“But now, ^1aentreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us! With this thing which is from your hand, will He ^blift up any of your faces?” says Yahweh of hosts.

¹⁰“Oh that there were one among you who would ^ashut the ¹gates, that you might not light a fire on My altar in vain! I have no delight in you,” says Yahweh of hosts, “^bnor will I accept an offering from your hand.

¹¹“For from the ^arising of the sun even to its setting, ^bMy name will be ^cgreat among the nations, and in every place ^dincense is going to be presented to My name, as well as a grain offering that is clean; for My name will be ^egreat among the nations,” says Yahweh of hosts.

¹²“But you are ^aprofaning it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’

¹³“You also say, ‘Behold, how ^atiresome it is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by ^brobbery and what is ^clame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I ^daccept that from your hand?” says Yahweh.

¹⁴“But cursed be the ^aswindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a ^1bblemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great ^cKing,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and My name is ^2dfeared among the ³nations.”