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Malachi 2
Common English Bible

2 But now, this command is for you, priests:
2     If you don’t listen,
        or don’t intend to glorify my name,
says the Lord of heavenly forces,
        then I will send a curse among you.
        I will curse your blessings,
            and I mean really curse them,
            because none of you intend to do it.
3 I am about to denounce your offspring;
        I will scatter feces on your faces,
        the feces of your festivals.
Then I will lift you up to me,[a]
4     and you will know that I have sent this command to you
        so that my covenant with Levi can continue to exist,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
5 My covenant with him involved life and peace, which I gave him,
        and also fear so that he honored me.
            He was in awe of my name.
6 True Instruction was in his mouth;
        injustice wasn’t found on his lips.
He walked with me in peace and did the right thing;
        he made many turn from iniquity.
7 The lips of the priest should guard knowledge;
        everyone[b] should seek Instruction from his mouth,
            for he is the messenger from the Lord of heavenly forces.
8 But you have turned from the path.
        You have caused many to stumble by your instruction.
        You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
9 Moreover, I have made you despised and humiliated in the view of all the people,
        since none of you keep my ways
            or show respect for Instruction.

Judah’s dishonesty

10 Isn’t there one father for all of us,
    one God who created us?
Why does everyone cheat each other
    to make the covenant
        of our ancestors impure?
11 Judah cheated—
        a detestable thing was done in Israel and Jerusalem.
    Judah made the Lord’s holy place impure, which God loved,
        and married the daughter of a foreign god.
12 May the Lord eliminate anyone who does so from the tents of Jacob,
        anyone awaking, testifying,[c]
        and making an offering to the Lord of heavenly forces.
13 You should do this as well:
        cover the altar of the Lord with tears, weeping, and groaning
            because there is still no divine favor for your offering or favorable regard
            for anything from your hand.
14 But you say, “Why?”
    Because the Lord testifies about you
            and the wife of your youth against whom you cheated.
    She is your partner,
            the wife of your covenant.
15 Didn’t he make her[d] the one[e]
    and the remnant of his spirit?[f]
    What is the one?
        The one seeking godly offspring.
You should guard your own spirit.
    Don’t cheat on the wife of your youth
16         because he hates divorce,
says the Lord God of Israel,
            and he also hates the one covering his garment with violence,[g]
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
        Guard your own life, and don’t cheat.

Purifying judgment

17 You have made the Lord tired with your words.
You say, “How have we made him tired?”
    When you say:
        “Anyone doing evil is good in the Lord’s eyes,”
        or “He delights in those doing evil,”[h]
        or “Where is the God of justice?”

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:3 Heb uncertain; MT He will carry you to it.
  2. Malachi 2:7 Or they
  3. Malachi 2:12 Heb uncertain
  4. Malachi 2:15 Heb lacks her.
  5. Malachi 2:15 Heb uncertain; her refers to the wife in Mal 2:14.
  6. Malachi 2:15 Heb uncertain
  7. Malachi 2:16 Heb uncertain
  8. Malachi 2:17 Or them
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Malachi 2
New International Version

Additional Warning to the Priests

2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.(A) 2 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.

3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants[a]; I will smear on your faces the dung(F) from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.(G) 4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi(H) may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant(I) 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. 6 True instruction(L) was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked(M) with me in peace(N) and uprightness,(O) and turned many from sin.(P)

7 “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) 8 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. 9 “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.”(AA)

Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

10 Do we not all have one Father[b]?(AB) Did not one God create us?(AC) Why do we profane the covenant(AD) of our ancestors by being unfaithful(AE) to one another?

11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable(AF) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves(AG) by marrying(AH) women who worship a foreign god.(AI) 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove(AJ) him from the tents of Jacob[c](AK)—even though he brings an offering(AL) to the Lord Almighty.

13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.(AM) You weep and wail(AN) because he no longer looks with favor(AO) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.(AP) 14 You ask,(AQ) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness(AR) between you and the wife of your youth.(AS) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.(AT)

15 Has not the one God made you?(AU) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.[d](AV) So be on your guard,(AW) and do not be unfaithful(AX) to the wife of your youth.

16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,(AY)” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”[e](AZ) says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard,(BA) and do not be unfaithful.

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

17 You have wearied(BB) the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.(BC)

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased(BD) with them” or “Where is the God of justice?(BE)”

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:3 Or will blight your grain
  2. Malachi 2:10 Or father
  3. Malachi 2:12 Or 12 May the Lord remove from the tents of Jacob anyone who gives testimony in behalf of the man who does this
  4. Malachi 2:15 The meaning of the Hebrew for the first part of this verse is uncertain.
  5. Malachi 2:16 Or “I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “because the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,”
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Malachi 1
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