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?

¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.^(A) You weep and wail^(B) because he no longer looks with favor^(C) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.^{(D) 14} You ask,^(E) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness^(F) between you and the wife of your youth.^(G) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.^(H)

¹⁵ Has not the one God made you?^(I) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.^[a](J) So be on your guard,^(K) and do not be unfaithful^(L) to the wife of your youth.

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

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

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

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

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

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

3 “I will send my messenger,^(T) who will prepare the way before me.^(U) Then suddenly the Lord^(V) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(W) whom you desire,^(X) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

² But who can endure^(Y) the day of his coming?^(Z) Who can stand^(AA) when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire^(AB) or a launderer’s soap.^{(AC) 3} He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;^(AD) he will purify^(AE) the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.^(AF) Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,^{(AG) 4} and the offerings^(AH) of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.^(AI)

⁵ “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,^(AJ) adulterers^(AK) and perjurers,^(AL) against those who defraud laborers of their wages,^(AM) who oppress the widows^(AN) and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners^(AO) among you of justice, but do not fear^(AP) me,” says the Lord Almighty.