Malachi 2:1–9

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 refuse 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.