Malachi 1–2

1A prophecy:^a The word^b of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.^a

Israel Doubts God’s Love

²“I have loved^c you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask,^d ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,^{e 3}but Esau I have hated,^f and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland^g and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.^h”

⁴Edomⁱ may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild^j the ruins.”

But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish.^k They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.^{l 5}You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great^m is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’ⁿ

Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices

⁶“A son honors his father,^o and a slave his master.^p If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect^q due me?” says the Lord Almighty.^r

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask,^s ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

⁷“By offering defiled food^t on my altar.

“But you ask,^u ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the Lord’s table^v is contemptible. ⁸When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals,^w is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased^x with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.^y

⁹“Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings^z from your hands, will he accept^a you?”—says the Lord Almighty.

¹⁰“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors,^b so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased^c with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept^d no offering^e from your hands. ¹¹My name will be great^f among the nations,^g from where the sun rises to where it sets.^h In every place incenseⁱ and pure offerings^j will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

¹²“But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table^k is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food^l is contemptible.’ ¹³And you say, ‘What a burden!’^m and you sniff at it contemptuously,ⁿ” says the Lord Almighty.

“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices,^o should I accept them from your hands?”^p says the Lord. ¹⁴“Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal^q to the Lord. For I am a great king,^r” says the Lord Almighty,^s “and my name is to be feared^t among the nations.^u

Additional Warning to the Priests

2“And now, you priests, this warning is for you.^{v 2}If you do not listen,^w and if you do not resolve to honor^x my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse^y on you, and I will curse your blessings.^z Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

³“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants^a; I will smear on your faces the dung^a from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.^{b 4}And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi^c may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁵“My covenant was with him, a covenant^d of life and peace,^e and I gave them to him; this called for reverence^f and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. ⁶True instruction^g was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked^h with me in peaceⁱ and uprightness,^j and turned many from sin.^k

⁷“For the lips of a priest^l ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger^m of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.^{n 8}But you have turned from the way^o and by your teaching have caused many to stumble;^p you have violated the covenant^q with Levi,”^r says the Lord Almighty. ⁹“So I have caused you to be despised^s and humiliated^t before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality^u in matters of the law.”^v

Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

¹⁰Do we not all have one Father^b?^w Did not one God create us?^x Why do we profane the covenant^y of our ancestors by being unfaithful^z to one another?

¹¹Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable^a thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves^b by marrying^c women who worship a foreign god.^{d 12}As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove^e him from the tents of Jacob^cf—even though he brings an offering^g to the Lord Almighty.

¹³Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.^h You weep and wailⁱ because he no longer looks with favor^j on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.^{k 14}You ask,^l “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness^m between you and the wife of your youth.ⁿ You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.^o

¹⁵Has not the one God made you?^p You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.^dq So be on your guard,^r and do not be unfaithful^s to the wife of your youth.

¹⁶“The man who hates and divorces his wife,^t” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”^eu says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard,^v and do not be unfaithful.

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

¹⁷You have wearied^w the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.^x

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased^y with them” or “Where is the God of justice?^z”