Malachi 2:3-7

New International Version

³ “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants^[a]; I will smear on your faces the dung^(A) from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.^{(B) 4} And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi^(C) may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁵ “My covenant was with him, a covenant^(D) of life and peace,^(E) and I gave them to him; this called for reverence^(F) and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. ⁶ True instruction^(G) was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked^(H) with me in peace^(I) and uprightness,^(J) and turned many from sin.^(K)

⁷ “For the lips of a priest^(L) ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger^(M) of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.^(N)