Sin of the Priests

⁶ “‘A son ^(A)honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a ^(B)father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My ^[a]respect?’ says the Lord of armies to you, the ^(C)priests who despise My name! But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ ⁷ You are presenting ^(D)defiled ^[b](E)food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The ^(F)table of the Lord is to be despised.’ ⁸ And when you present a ^(G)blind animal for sacrifice, is it not evil? Or when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not evil? So offer it to your ^(H)governor! Would he be pleased with you, or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of armies. ⁹ “But now, do indeed ^(I)plead for God’s favor, so that He will be gracious to us. ^[c]With such an offering on your part, will He ^(J)receive any of you kindly?” says the Lord of armies. ¹⁰ “If only there were one among you who would ^(K)shut the ^[d]gates, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar for nothing! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of armies, “^(L)nor will I accept an offering from your hand. ¹¹ For from the ^(M)rising of the sun even to its setting, ^(N)My name shall be ^(O)great among the nations, and in every place ^(P)frankincense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name shall be ^(Q)great among the nations,” says the Lord of armies. ¹² “But you are ^(R)profaning it by your saying, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’ ¹³ You also say, ‘See, ^[e]how ^(S)tiresome it is!’ And you view it as trivial,” says the Lord of armies, “and you bring what was taken by ^(T)robbery and what is ^(U)lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I ^(V)accept it from your hand?” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “But cursed be the ^(W)swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a ^(X)blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great ^(Y)King,” says the Lord of armies, “and My name is ^[f](Z)feared among the ^[g]nations.”

Priests to Be Disciplined

2 “And now, this commandment is for you, the priests. ² If you do ^(AA)not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of armies, “then I will send the ^(AB)curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have ^(AC)cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. ³ Behold, I am going to ^(AD)rebuke your ^[h]descendants, and I will ^(AE)spread ^[i]dung on your faces, the ^[j]dung of your ^(AF)feasts; and you will be taken away ^[k]with it. ⁴ Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, ^[l]so that My ^(AG)covenant may ^[m]continue with Levi,” says the Lord of armies. ⁵ “My covenant with him was one of life and ^(AH)peace, and I gave them to him as an object of ^[n]reverence; so he ^[o](AI)revered Me and was in awe of My name. ^6 [p](AJ)True instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked ^(AK)with Me in peace and justice, and he ^(AL)turned many back from wrongdoing. ⁷ For the lips of a priest should maintain ^(AM)knowledge, and people should ^(AN)seek ^[q]instruction from his mouth; for he is the ^(AO)messenger of the Lord of armies. ⁸ But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to ^(AP)stumble ^[r]by the instruction; you have ^(AQ)ruined the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of armies. ⁹ “So ^(AR)I also have made you despised and of ^(AS)low reputation ^[s]in the view of all the people, since you are not keeping My ways but are showing ^(AT)partiality in the ^[t]instruction.”