Malachi 2

Admonition for the Priests

1 “And now this admonition is for you, O priests.

2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.
3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.4 And you will know that I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty.5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.

6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.

9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

Judah Unfaithful

10 Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?
11 Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord cut him off from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings offerings to the Lord Almighty.
13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.

14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

15 Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

16 “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and I hate a man's covering himselfwith violence as well as with his garment,” says the Lord Almighty.
So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

The Day of Judgment

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.
By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

MALACHI 2

True and False Priests

1 I, the [Lord] All-Powerful, have something else to say to you priests. 2 You had better take seriously the need to honor my name. Otherwise, when you give a blessing, I will turn it into a curse. In fact, I have already done this, because you haven't taken to heart your duties as priests.

3 I will punish your descendants and rub your faces in the manure from your animal sacrifices, and then be done with you.t
4  t I am telling you this, so I can continue to keep my agreement with your ancestor Levi. 5 t I blessed him with a full life, as I had promised, and he kept his part of the agreement by honoring me and respecting my name.

6 He taught the truth and never told lies, and he led a lot of people to turn from sin, because he obeyed me and lived right.
7 You priests should be eager to spread knowledge, and everyone should come to you for instruction, because you speak for me, the [Lord] All-Powerful. 8 But you have turned your backs on me. Your teachings have led others to do sinful things, and you have broken the agreement I made with your ancestor Levi.

9 So I caused everyone to hate and despise you, because you disobeyed me and failed to treat all people alike.

A Broken Agreement

12 I pray that the [Lord] will no longer let those who are guilty belong to his people, even if they eagerly decide to offer the [Lord] a gift.t
13 And what else are you doing? You cry noisily and flood the [Lord]'s altar with your tears, because he isn't pleased with your offerings and refuses to accept them. 14 And why isn't God pleased? It's because he knows that each of you men has been unfaithful to the wife you married when you were young. You promised that she would be your partner, but now you have broken that promise. 15 Didn't God create you and your wife to become like one person?t And why did he do this? It was so you would have children, and then lead them to become God's people. Don't ever be unfaithful to your wife.

16 The [Lord] God All-Powerful of Israel hates anyone who is cruel enough to divorce his wife. So take care never to be unfaithful!

17 You have worn out the [Lord] with your words. And yet, you ask, “How did we do that?”
You did it by saying, “The [Lord] is pleased with evil and doesn't care about justice.”