Israel Doubts God’s Love

² “I have loved^(A) you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask,^(B) ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,^(C)

Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices

⁶ “A son honors his father,^(A) and a slave his master.^(B) If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect^(C) due me?” says the Lord Almighty.^(D)

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask,^(E) ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

⁷ “By offering defiled food^(A) on my altar.

“But you ask,^(B) ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the Lord’s table^(C) is contemptible.

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

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

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

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

⁷ Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away^(A) from my decrees and have not kept them. Return^(B) to me, and I will return to you,”^(C) says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask,^(D) ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob^(E) God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes^(F) and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse^(G)—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.