The Book of

MALACHI

Chapter 1

God’s Love for Jacob

1 The 1aoracle of the word of the Lord to bIsrael through 2Malachi.

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

3 but I have hated Esau, and I have amade his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

4 Though Edom says, “We have been abeaten down, but we will 1breturn and build up the ruins”; thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may cbuild, but I will tear down; and men will call them the 2wicked territory, and the people 3toward whom the Lord is indignant dforever.”

5 Your eyes will see this and you will say, “aThe Lord 1be magnified beyond the 2border of Israel!”

Sin of the Priests

6 “ ‘A son ahonors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a bfather, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My 1respect?’ says the Lord 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 the Lord 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? 1Why not offer it to your bgovernor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts.

9 “But now 1will you not aentreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? 2With such an offering on your part, will He breceive any of you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts.

10 “Oh that there were one among you who would ashut the 1gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “bnor will I accept an offering from 2you.

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 offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be egreat among the nations,” says the Lord 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, ‘1My, how atiresome it is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by brobbery and what is clame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I dreceive that from your hand?” says the Lord.

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

Chapter 2

Priests to Be Disciplined

1 “And now this commandment is for you, O priests.

2 “If you do anot listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the bcurse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have ccursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

3 “Behold, I am going to arebuke your 1offspring, and I will bspread 2refuse on your faces, the 2refuse of your cfeasts; and you will be taken away 3with it.

4 “Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, 1that My acovenant may 2continue with Levi,” says the Lord of hosts.

5 “My covenant with him was one of life and apeace, and I gave them to him as an object of 1reverence; so he 2brevered Me and stood in awe of My name.

6 “1aTrue instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked bwith Me in peace and uprightness, and he cturned many back from iniquity.

7 “For the lips of a priest should preserve aknowledge, and 1men should bseek 2instruction from his mouth; for he is the cmessenger of the Lord of hosts.

8 “But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to astumble 1by the instruction; you have 2bcorrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts.

9 “So aI also have made you despised and babased 1before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing cpartiality in the 2instruction.

Sin in the Family

10 “Do we not all have aone father? bHas not one God created us? Why do we deal ctreacherously each against his brother so as to profane the dcovenant of our fathers?

11 “Judah has dealt atreacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has bprofaned the sanctuary of the Lord 1which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

12 “As for the man who does this, may the aLord cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who bpresents 1an offering to the Lord of hosts.

13 “This is 1another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He ano longer regards the 2offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.

14 “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the awife of your youth, against whom you have dealt btreacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

15 “1But not one has adone so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And 2what did that one do while he was seeking a bgodly 3offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal ctreacherously against the wife of your youth.

16 “For 1I hate 2adivorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and 3him who covers his garment with 4bwrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

17 You have awearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “bEveryone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He cdelights in them,” or, “dWhere is the God of ejustice?”

Chapter 3

The Purifier

1 “aBehold, I am going to send bMy 1messenger, and he will 2cclear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; 3and the 1dmessenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.

2 “But who can aendure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a brefiner’s fire and like 1fullers’ soap.

3 “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will apurify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may bpresent to the Lord 1offerings in righteousness.

4 “Then the 1offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be apleasing to the Lord as in the bdays of old and as in former years.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the asorcerers and against the badulterers and against those who cswear falsely, and against those who oppress the dwage earner in his wages, the ewidow and the 1orphan, and those who turn aside the 2falien and do not 3fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.

6 “For 1I, the Lord, ado not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, 2are not consumed.

7 “From the adays of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. bReturn to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You Have Robbed God

8 “Will a man 1rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In atithes and 2offerings.

9 “You are acursed with a curse, for you are 1robbing Me, the whole nation of you!

10 “aBring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be 1food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not bopen for you the windows of heaven and cpour out for you a blessing until 2dit overflows.

11 “Then I will rebuke the adevourer for you, so that it will not 1destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts.

12 “aAll the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a bdelightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

13 “Your words have been 1arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

14 “You have said, ‘It is avain to serve God; and what bprofit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts?

15 ‘So now we acall the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and bescape.’ ”

The Book of Remembrance

16 Then those who 1feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord agave attention and heard it, and a bbook of remembrance was written before Him for those who 1fear the Lord and who esteem His name.

17 “They will be aMine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the bday that I 1prepare My 2cown possession, and I will 3spare them as a man 3dspares his own son who serves him.”

18 So you will again adistinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

Chapter 4

Final Admonition

1 “1For behold, the day is coming, aburning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be bchaff; and the day that is coming will cset them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”

2 “But for you who 1fear My name, the asun of righteousness will rise with bhealing in its wings; and you will go forth and cskip about like calves from the stall.

3 “You will atread down the wicked, for they will be bashes under the soles of your feet con the day 1which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.

4 “1aRemember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, I am going to send you aElijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

6 “He will 1arestore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and bsmite the land with a 2curse.”