“And now, you priests, this warning is for you.^a If you do not listen,^b and if you do not resolve to honor^c my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse^d on you, and I will curse your blessings.^e Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

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

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

Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

Do we not all have one Father?^a Did not one God create us?^b Why do we profane the covenant^c of our ancestors by being unfaithful^d to one another?

Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable^e thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves^f by marrying^g women who worship a foreign god.^h If anyone does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord removeⁱ him from the tents of Jacob^j—even though he brings an offering^k to the Lord Almighty.

Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.^l You weep and wail^m because he no longer looks with favorⁿ on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.^o You ask,^p “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness^q between you and the wife of your youth.^r You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.^s

Has not the Lord made the two of you one?^t You belong to him in body and spirit. And why has he made you one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.^u So be on your guard,^v and do not be unfaithful^w to the wife of your youth.

“I hate divorce,^x” says the Lord God of Israel, “and I hate it when people clothe themselves with injustice,”^y says the Lord Almighty.

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

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

You have wearied^a the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.^b

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

Read in Logos

Cross references

aver 7
b Jer 13:17
c Mt 15:7–9; Jn 5:23; 1Ti 6:16; Rev 5:12–13
d Dt 11:26; 28:20
e Nu 6:23–27
f Ex 29:14; Lev 4:11; Job 9:31
g 1Ki 14:10
h Nu 3:12
i Dt 33:9; Ps 25:10; 103:18; Mt 26:28; Lk 22:20; Heb 7:22
j Nu 25:12
k Dt 14:23; 28:58; Ps 119:161; Heb 12:28
l Dt 33:10
m Ge 5:22
n Lk 2:14; Jn 14:27; Gal 5:22
o Ps 25:21
p Ro 11:14; Jas 5:19–20
q Jer 18:18
r Nu 27:21; 2Ch 36:15; Mt 11:10; Mk 1:2
s Lev 10:11; 2Ch 17:7
t Ex 32:8; Jer 2:8
u Jer 18:15
v Jer 33:21; Eze 22:26
w Hos 4:6
x 1Sa 2:30; Ps 22:6; Jer 51:37
y Ps 35:4; Jer 3:25; Ac 8:32–33
z Ex 18:16; Lev 19:15; Ac 10:34; Ro 2:11
a 1Sa 2:17
a Ex 4:22; Mt 5:16; 6:4,18; Lk 11:2; 1Co 8:6
b Job 4:17; Isa 43:1
c Ex 19:5; 2Ki 17:15; Jer 31:32
d Zep 3:3–4
e Isa 1:13; 48:8
f Dt 4:37
g Ne 13:23
h Ex 34:16; Jer 3:7–9
i 1Sa 2:30–33; Eze 24:21
j Nu 24:5; 2Sa 20:1
k Mal 1:10
l Jer 11:11
m Ps 39:12
n Ps 66:18; Jer 14:12
o Isa 58:2
p Mal 1:2
q Ge 21:30; Jos 24:22
r Pr 5:18
s Eze 16:8; Heb 13:4
t Ge 2:24; Mt 19:4–6
u Dt 14:2; 1Co 7:14
v Dt 4:15
w Isa 54:6; 1Co 7:10; Heb 13:4
x Dt 24:1; Mt 5:31–32; 19:4–9; Mk 10:4–5
y Ge 6:11; 34:25; Pr 4:17; Isa 58:4
z Ps 51:10
a Isa 1:14
b Mal 1:2
c Ps 5:4
d Ge 18:25; Job 8:3; Eze 18:25