Malachi 2:10-3:5

English Standard Version

Judah Profaned the Covenant

¹⁰ Have we not all ^(A)one Father? Has not ^(B)one God created us? Why then are we ^(C)faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹ Judah has been ^(D)faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For ^(E)Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹² May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant^[a] of the man who does this, who ^(F)brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³ And this second thing you do. ^(G)You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ^14 (H)But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ^(I)was witness between you and the wife of your youth, ^(J)to whom ^(K)you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ^15 (L)Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?^[b] And what was the one God^[c] seeking?^{[d] (M)}Godly offspring. So guard yourselves^[e] in your spirit, and let none of you be ^(N)faithless to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ “For ^(O)the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,^[f] says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers^[g] his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and ^(P)do not be faithless.”

The Messenger of the Lord

^17 (Q)You have wearied the Lord with your words. ^(R)But you say, “How have we wearied him?” ^(S)By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, ^(T)“Where is the God of justice?”

3 ^(U)“Behold, I send ^(V)my messenger, and ^(W)he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^(X)whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^(Y)the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But ^(Z)who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For ^(AA)he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ³ He will sit ^(AB)as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring ^(AC)offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^{[h] 4 (AD)}Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be ^(AE)a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those ^(AF)who oppress the hired worker in his wages, ^(AG)the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.