Malachi 1
Good News Translation
1 This is the message that the Lord gave Malachi to tell the people of Israel.
The Lord's Love for Israel
2 (A)The Lord says to his people, “I have always loved you.”
But they reply, “How have you shown your love for us?”
The Lord answers, “Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, 3 and have hated Esau and his descendants. I have devastated Esau's hill country and abandoned the land to jackals.”
4 If Esau's descendants, the Edomites, say, “Our towns have been destroyed, but we will rebuild them,” then the Lord will reply, “Let them rebuild—I will tear them down again. People will call them ‘The evil country’ and ‘The nation with whom the Lord is angry forever.’”
5 The people of Israel are going to see this with their own eyes, and they will say, “The Lord is mighty even outside the land of Israel!”
The Lord Reprimands the Priests
6 The Lord Almighty says to the priests, “Children honor their parents, and servants honor their masters. I am your father—why don't you honor me? I am your master—why don't you respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask, ‘How have we despised you?’ 7 This is how—by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, ‘How have we failed to respect you?’ I will tell you—by showing contempt for my altar. 8 (B)When you bring a blind or sick or lame animal to sacrifice to me, do you think there's nothing wrong with that? Try giving an animal like that to the governor! Would he be pleased with you or grant you any favors?”
9 Now, you priests, try asking God to be good to us. He will not answer your prayer, and it will be your fault. 10 The Lord Almighty says, “I wish one of you would close the Temple doors so as to prevent you from lighting useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you; I will not accept the offerings you bring me. 11 People from one end of the world to the other honor me. Everywhere they burn incense to me and offer acceptable sacrifices. All of them honor me! 12 But you dishonor me when you say that my altar is worthless and when you offer on it food that you despise. 13 You say, ‘How tired we are of all this!’ and you turn up your nose at me. As your offering to me you bring a stolen animal or one that is lame or sick. Do you think I will accept that from you? 14 A curse on the cheater who sacrifices a worthless animal to me, when he has in his flock a good animal that he promised to give me! For I am a great king, and people of all nations fear me.”
Malachi 1
Expanded Bible
1 This ·message [oracle; burden] is the word of the Lord given to Israel through Malachi [C “my messenger”].
God Loves Israel
2 The Lord said, “I have loved you.”
But you ask, “How have you loved us?”
The Lord said, “Esau and Jacob were brothers. I loved Jacob, 3 but I ·hated [rejected] Esau [Gen. 25:19–34]. I ·destroyed [laid waste] his mountain country and left his ·land [inheritance] to the ·wild dogs [jackals] of the ·desert [wilderness].”
4 The people of Edom [L descendants of Esau] might say, “We were ·destroyed [crushed; shattered], but we will go back and rebuild the ruins.”
But the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says, “If they rebuild them, I will ·destroy [demolish] them. ·People will say, ‘Edom is a wicked country. The Lord is always angry with the Edomites.’ [or They will be known as, ‘The Wicked Land’ and ‘The people always under God’s wrath.’] 5 You will see these things with your own eyes. And you will say, ‘The Lord is great, even ·outside [beyond] the borders of Israel!’”
The Priests Don’t Respect God
6 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says, “A son honors his father [Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16], and a ·servant [slave] honors his master.” ·I am a [L If I am your] father, so why don’t you honor me? ·I am a [L If I am your] master, so why don’t you respect me? You priests ·do not respect me [L despise my name].
“But you ask, ‘How have we ·shown you disrespect [L despised your name]?’
7 “You have shown it by bringing ·unclean [defiled] food to my altar.
“But you ask, ‘What makes it ·unclean [defiled]?’
“It is ·unclean [defiled] because you ·don’t respect [treat as contemptible] the altar of the Lord. 8 When you ·bring [offer] blind animals as sacrifices, ·that is [L is that not…?] wrong. When you ·bring [offer] crippled and sick animals, ·that is [L is that not…?] wrong [Lev. 1:3]. Try giving them to your governor. Would he be pleased with you? ·He wouldn’t [L Would he…?] accept you,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
9 “Now ·ask [plead with] God to ·be kind [show favor] to you, but he won’t ·accept [show favor to] you with such offerings,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
10 “I wish one of you would close the Temple doors so that you would not light ·useless [worthless; meaningless] fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you and will not accept ·your gifts [L an offering from your hand],” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. 11 “From the east to the west ·I [L my name] will be honored among the nations. Everywhere they will bring incense and ·clean [pure; undefiled] offerings to me, because ·I will be honored [L my name will be great] among the nations,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
12 “But you ·don’t honor [profane] me. You say about the Lord’s ·altar [table], ‘It is ·unclean [defiled], and the food ·has no worth [is despicable/contemptible].’ 13 You say, ‘We are tired of doing this,’ and you ·sniff [sneer] at it in disgust,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
“And you bring ·hurt [or stolen], crippled, and sick animals as gifts. You bring them as ·gifts [offerings], but I won’t accept them from ·you [L your hands],” says the Lord. 14 “The person who cheats will be cursed. He has a male animal in his flock and promises to offer it, but then he offers to the Lord an animal that ·has something wrong with it [is blemished; Lev. 1:3]. I am a great king,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], “and ·I am [my name is] feared ·by all [among] the nations.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.