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Malachi 1
New Catholic Bible
Malachi 1
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 1
1 This is an oracle relating the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.
The Lord’s Love for Israel
2 I have loved you, says the Lord,
but you ask, “How have you shown your love?”
3 Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? asks the Lord.
Even so, I loved Jacob but I hated Esau.
I reduced his hill country into a wasteland
and made his heritage into a desert for jackals.
4 When Edom says, “We have been crushed,
but we will rebuild the ruins,”
thus says the Lord of hosts:
They may build, but I will demolish.
They will be called a country of wickedness,
the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.
5 Your own eyes will see this, and you will say,
“Great is the Lord,
even beyond the borders of Israel.”
The Blemished Offerings and Other Faults of Priests[a]
6 A son honors his father,
and a servant fears his master.
If then I am a father,
where is the honor due to me?
So says the Lord of hosts
to you priests who despise my name.
You ask, “How have we despised your name?”
7 By offering polluted food on my altar.
Then you ask, “How have we polluted it?”
By thinking that the table of the Lord may be despised.
8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice,
is this not evil?
And when you offer in sacrifice
those who are lame or sick,
is this not evil?
If you offer such sacrifices to your governor,
will he be pleased with them,
or show you special favor,
asks the Lord of hosts.
9 In the same way,
if you implore God to show mercy toward you
when you have presented such offerings,
do you think he will grant your request?
Thus says the Lord of hosts.
10 Oh, if only one of you would close the temple gates
and thus bring to an end
the pointless lighting of fires on my altar!
I derive no pleasure from you,
says the Lord of hosts,
and I will not accept
any sacrifice from your hands.
11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting
my name is great among the nations.
Everywhere incense and a pure sacrifice
are offered to my name.
For my name is great among the nations,
says the Lord of hosts.[b]
12 However, you profane my name
when you claim that the table of the Lord is polluted,
and that therefore the food offered on it
is not worthy of respect.
13 You also assert, “How tiresome all this is!”
and you sniff scornfully at me,
says the Lord of hosts.
You bring an animal
that is stolen, lame, or diseased,
and you present it to me as a sacrifice.
Shall I accept this from your hands,
asks the Lord.
14 Accursed is the deceiver
who has a male in his flock
and vows to give it,
but then sacrifices a blemished animal to me.
For I am a great king,
says the Lord of hosts,
and my name is held in awe among the nations.
Footnotes
- Malachi 1:6 This passage foretells a different and perfect sacrifice, which Christians identify with the Eucharistic sacrifice.
- Malachi 1:11 The Hebrew verbs are in the present tense, which, in the prophetic style, stands for the future. It is part of Christian tradition, confirmed by the Council of Trent (Session XXII), that this pure sacrifice foretells the bloodless sacrifice of the Mass. This passage is echoed today in the Third Eucharistic Prayer: “You never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.”
Malachi 1
New International Version
Malachi 1
New International Version
1 A 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)”
4 Edom(I) 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. 8 When 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(AA) you?”—says the Lord Almighty.
10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors,(AB) so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased(AC) with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept(AD) no offering(AE) from your hands. 11 My name will be great(AF) among the nations,(AG) from where the sun rises to where it sets.(AH) In every place incense(AI) and pure offerings(AJ) 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(AK) is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food(AL) is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’(AM) and you sniff at it contemptuously,(AN)” says the Lord Almighty.
“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices,(AO) should I accept them from your hands?”(AP) 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(AQ) to the Lord. For I am a great king,(AR)” says the Lord Almighty,(AS) “and my name is to be feared(AT) among the nations.(AU)
Footnotes
- Malachi 1:1 Malachi means my messenger.
New International Version (NIV) 
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