Malachi 1

Chapter 1

God’s Love for Jacob

¹The ^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;

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

⁴Though 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.”

⁵Your 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.”