Malachi 2

A Rebuke for the Priests

1“And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2If you will not listen,
and if you will not set it upon your heart
to give honor to my name,”
says the LORD of Hosts,
“then I will send the curse upon you,
and I will curse your blessings.
Indeed, I have already cursed them,
because you do not set it upon your heart.

3Look, I will rebuke your offspring,
and I will spread dung upon your faces,
the dung of your festival sacrifices,
and you will be taken away with it. 4Then you will know
that I have sent this command to you,
that my covenant with Levi may stand,”
says the LORD of Hosts.

5“My covenant with him
was one of life and peace,
and I gave them to him.
It was a covenant of fear,
and he feared me.
He stood in awe of my name. 6True instruction was in his mouth,
and no injustice was found on his lips.
He walked with me in peace and uprightness,
and he turned many from iniquity. 7For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge,
and people should seek instruction from his mouth,
for he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.

8But you have turned aside from the way.
You have caused many to stumble by your instruction.
You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,”
says the LORD of Hosts. 9“So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people,
inasmuch as you do not keep my ways
but show partiality in your instruction.”

Judah’s Unfaithfulness

10Have we not all one Father?
Has not one God created us?
Why then are we faithless to one another,
profaning the covenant of our fathers?

11Judah has been faithless,
and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem.
For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD,
which he loves,
and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob
the man who does this,
whoever he may be,
even if he brings an offering
to the LORD of Hosts.

13And this second thing you do:
You cover the altar of the LORD with tears,
with weeping and groaning,
because he no longer regards the offering
or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14But you say,
“Why does he not?”
Because the LORD was witness
between you and the wife of your youth,
to whom you have been faithless,
though she is your companion
and your wife by covenant.

15Did he not make them one,
with a portion of the Spirit in their union?
And what was the one God seeking?
Godly offspring.
So guard yourselves in your spirit,
and let none be faithless
to the wife of his youth.

16“For I hate divorce,”
says the LORD, the God of Israel,
“and him who covers his garment with violence,”
says the LORD of Hosts.
“So guard yourselves in your spirit,
and do not be faithless.”

The LORD Will Come in Judgment

17You have wearied the LORD with your words.
But you say,
“How have we wearied him?”
By saying,
“Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD,
and he delights in them,”
or by asking,
“Where is the God of justice?”