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21 (A)But if a firstling has any defect, lameness or blindness, any such serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord, your God,

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Chapter 17

You shall not sacrifice to the Lord, your God, an ox or a sheep with any serious defect;(A) that would be an abomination to the Lord, your God.

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    By offering defiled food on my altar!
You ask, “How have we defiled it?”
    By saying that the table of the Lord may be disdained!
[a](A)When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice,
    is there no wrong in that?
When you offer a lame or sick animal,
    is there no wrong in that?
Present it to your governor!
    Will he be pleased with you—or show you favor?
    says the Lord of hosts.
So now implore God’s favor, that he may have mercy on us!
    You are the ones who have done this;
Will he show favor to any of you?
    says the Lord of hosts.
10 [b]Oh, that one of you would just shut the temple gates
    to keep you from kindling fire on my altar in vain!
I take no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts;
    and I will not accept any offering from your hands!
11 (B)From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    my name is great among the nations;
Incense offerings are made to my name everywhere,
    and a pure offering;
For my name is great among the nations,
    says the Lord of hosts.
12 But you profane it by saying
    that the Lord’s table is defiled,
    and its food may be disdained.
13 You say, “See what a burden this is!”
    and you exasperate me, says the Lord of hosts;
You bring in what is mutilated, or lame, or sick;
    you bring it as an offering!
Will I accept it from your hands?
    says the Lord.
14 Cursed is the cheat who has in his flock an intact male,
    and vows it, but sacrifices to the Lord a defective one instead;
For a great king am I, says the Lord of hosts,
    and my name is feared among the nations.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:8 The sacrificial offering of a lame, sick, or blind animal was forbidden in the law (Lv 22:17–25; Dt 17:1).
  2. 1:10–11 The imperfect sacrifices offered by the people of Judah are displeasing to the Lord. Kindling fire on my altar: kindle the altar fire for sacrifice. In contrast, the Lord is pleased with the sacrifices offered by other peoples in other places (the rising of the sun: the far east; its setting: the far west). Since the people of other nations could not be expected to know the Lord’s name as did the people of Judah, the rhetorical purpose of this statement is to shame the latter. Incense offerings: in the ancient world, the hallmark of an offering made to a god was the smoke it produced on an altar. In the Old Testament, this was true not only of animals (Lv 8:20–21) but also of incense (Ex 30:7), suet (Lv 3:11), and grain offerings (Lv 6:8). In a Christian interpretation of Mal 1:10–11, the “pure offering” of Mal 1:11 is seen as a reference to sacrifice in the Messianic Age. The Council of Trent endorsed this interpretation (DS 1724).