Malachi 1

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