Malachi 1–4

1The ¹burden of the word of the Lord to Israel ²by Malachi.

Israel Beloved of God

²“I ^ahave loved you,” says the Lord.

“Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’

Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?”

Says the Lord.

“Yet ^bJacob I have loved;

³But Esau I have hated,

And ^claid waste his mountains and his heritage

For the jackals of the wilderness.”

⁴Even though Edom has said,

“We have been impoverished,

But we will return and build the desolate places,”

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“They may build, but I will ^dthrow down;

They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness,

And the people against whom the Lord will have indignation forever.

⁵Your eyes shall see,

And you shall say,

^e‘The Lord is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’

Polluted Offerings

⁶“A son ^fhonors his father,

And a servant his master.

^gIf then I am the Father,

Where is My honor?

And if I am a Master,

Where is My reverence?

Says the Lord of hosts

To you priests who despise My name.

^hYet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’

⁷“You offer ⁱdefiled food on My altar,

But say,

‘In what way have we defiled You?’

By saying,

^j‘The table of the Lord is ³contemptible.’

⁸And ^kwhen you offer the blind as a sacrifice,

Is it not evil?

And when you offer the lame and sick,

Is it not evil?

Offer it then to your governor!

Would he be pleased with you?

Would he ^laccept ⁴you favorably?”

Says the Lord of hosts.

⁹“But now entreat God’s favor,

That He may be gracious to us.

^mWhile this is being done by your hands,

Will He accept you favorably?”

Says the Lord of hosts.

¹⁰“Who is there even among you who would shut the doors,

ⁿSo that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain?

I have no pleasure in you,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

^o“Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.

¹¹For ^pfrom the rising of the sun, even to its going down,

My name shall be great ^qamong the Gentiles;

^rIn every place ^sincense shall be offered to My name,

And a pure offering;

^tFor My name shall be great among the nations,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

¹²“But you profane it,

In that you say,

^u‘The table of the ⁵Lord is defiled;

And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’

¹³You also say,

‘Oh, what a ^vweariness!’

And you sneer at it,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

“And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick;

Thus you bring an offering!

^wShould I accept this from your hand?”

Says the Lord.

¹⁴“But cursed be ^xthe deceiver

Who has in his flock a male,

And takes a vow,

But sacrifices to the Lord ^ywhat is blemished—

For ^zI am a great King,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“And My name is to be feared among the nations.

Corrupt Priests

2“And now, O ^apriests, this commandment is for you.

^2bIf you will not hear,

And if you will not take it to heart,

To give glory to My name,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“I will send a curse upon you,

And I will curse your blessings.

Yes, I have cursed them ^calready,

Because you do not take it to heart.

³“Behold, I will rebuke your descendants

And spread ^drefuse on your faces,

The refuse of your solemn feasts;

And one will ^etake you away ¹with it.

⁴Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you,

That My covenant with Levi may continue,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

⁵“My ^fcovenant was with him, one of life and peace,

And I gave them to him ^gthat he might fear Me;

So he feared Me

And was reverent before My name.

^6hThe ²law of truth was in his mouth,

And ³injustice was not found on his lips.

He walked with Me in peace and equity,

And ⁱturned many away from iniquity.

⁷“For ^jthe lips of a priest should keep knowledge,

And people should seek the law from his mouth;

^kFor he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

⁸But you have departed from the way;

You ^lhave caused many to stumble at the law.

^mYou have corrupted the covenant of Levi,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

⁹“Therefore ⁿI also have made you contemptible and base

Before all the people,

Because you have not kept My ways

But have shown ^opartiality in the law.”

Treachery of Infidelity

^10pHave we not all one Father?

^qHas not one God created us?

Why do we deal treacherously with one another

By profaning the covenant of the fathers?

¹¹Judah has dealt treacherously,

And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,

For Judah has ^rprofaned

The Lord’s holy institution which He loves:

He has married the daughter of a foreign god.

¹²May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob

The man who does this, being ⁴awake and aware,

Yet ^swho brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³And this is the second thing you do:

You cover the altar of the Lord with tears,

With weeping and crying;

So He does not regard the offering anymore,

Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.

¹⁴Yet you say, “For what reason?”

Because the Lord has been witness

Between you and ^tthe wife of your youth,

With whom you have dealt treacherously;

^uYet she is your companion

And your wife by covenant.

¹⁵But ^vdid He not make them one,

Having a remnant of the Spirit?

And why one?

He seeks ^wgodly offspring.

“Therefore take heed to your spirit,

And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

¹⁶“For ^xthe Lord God of Israel says

That He hates divorce,

For it covers one’s garment with violence,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

Therefore take heed to your spirit,

That you do not deal treacherously.”

^17yYou have wearied the Lord with your words;

“Yet you say,

“In what way have we wearied Him?”

In that you say,

^z“Everyone who does evil

Is good in the sight of the Lord,

And He delights in them,”

Or, “Where is the God of justice?”

The Coming Messenger

3“Behold, ^aI send My messenger,

And he will ^bprepare the way before Me.

And the Lord, whom you seek,

Will suddenly come to His temple,

^cEven the Messenger of the covenant,

In whom you delight.

Behold, ^dHe is coming,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

²“But who can endure ^ethe day of His coming?

And ^fwho can stand when He appears?

For ^gHe is like a refiner’s fire

And like launderers’ soap.

^3hHe will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;

He will purify the sons of Levi,

And ¹purge them as gold and silver,

That they may ⁱoffer to the Lord

An offering in righteousness.

⁴“Then ^jthe offering of Judah and Jerusalem

Will be ²pleasant to the Lord,

As in the days of old,

As in former years.

⁵And I will come near you for judgment;

I will be a swift witness

Against sorcerers,

Against adulterers,

^kAgainst perjurers,

Against those who ^lexploit wage earners and ^mwidows and orphans,

And against those who turn away an alien—

Because they do not fear Me,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

⁶“For I am the Lord, ⁿI do not change;

^oTherefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

⁷Yet from the days of ^pyour fathers

You have gone away from My ordinances

And have not kept them.

^qReturn to Me, and I will return to you,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

^r“But you said,

‘In what way shall we return?’

Do Not Rob God

⁸“Will a man rob God?

Yet you have robbed Me!

But you say,

‘In what way have we robbed You?’

^sIn tithes and offerings.

⁹You are cursed with a curse,

For you have robbed Me,

Even this whole nation.

^10tBring all the tithes into the ^ustorehouse,

That there may be food in My house,

And try Me now in this,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“If I will not open for you the ^vwindows of heaven

And ^wpour out for you such blessing

That there will not be room enough to receive it.

¹¹“And I will rebuke ^xthe devourer for your sakes,

So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,

Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”

Says the Lord of hosts;

¹²And all nations will call you blessed,

For you will be ^ya delightful land,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

The People Complain Harshly

¹³“Your ^zwords have been ³harsh against Me,”

Says the Lord,

Yet you say,

‘What have we spoken against You?’

^14aYou have said,

‘It is useless to serve God;

What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance,

And that we have walked as mourners

Before the Lord of hosts?

¹⁵So now ^bwe call the proud blessed,

For those who do wickedness are ⁴raised up;

They even ^ctempt God and go free.’ ”

A Book of Remembrance

¹⁶Then those ^dwho feared the Lord ^espoke to one another,

And the Lord listened and heard them;

So ^fa book of remembrance was written before Him

For those who fear the Lord

And who ⁵meditate on His name.

¹⁷“They ^gshall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts,

“On the day that I make them My ^hjewels. ⁶

And ⁱI will spare them

As a man spares his own son who serves him.”

^18jThen you shall again discern

Between the righteous and the wicked,

Between one who serves God

And one who does not serve Him.

The Great Day of God

4“For behold, ^athe day is coming,

Burning like an oven,

And all ^bthe proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be ^cstubble.

And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“That will ^dleave them neither root nor branch.

²But to you who ^efear My name

The ^fSun of Righteousness shall arise

With healing in His wings;

And you shall go out

And grow fat like stall-fed calves.

^3gYou shall trample the wicked,

For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet

On the day that I do this,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

⁴“Remember the ^hLaw of Moses, My servant,

Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,

With ⁱthe statutes and judgments.

⁵Behold, I will send you ^jElijah the prophet

^kBefore the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

⁶And he will turn

The hearts of the fathers to the children,

And the hearts of the children to their fathers,

Lest I come and ^lstrike the earth with ^ma curse.”