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Malachia 2
Conferenza Episcopale Italiana

2 Ora a voi questo monito, o sacerdoti. 2 Se non mi ascolterete e non vi prenderete a cuore di dar gloria al mio nome, dice il Signore degli eserciti, manderò su di voi la maledizione e cambierò in maledizione le vostre benedizioni. Anzi le ho gia maledette, perché nessuno tra di voi se la prende a cuore.

3 Ecco, io spezzerò il vostro braccio
e spanderò sulla vostra faccia escrementi,
gli escrementi delle vittime
immolate nelle vostre solennità,
perché siate spazzati via insieme con essi.
4 Così saprete che io ho diretto a voi questo monito,
perché c'è anche un'alleanza fra me e Levi,
dice il Signore degli eserciti.
5 La mia alleanza con lui
era alleanza di vita e di benessere
e io glieli concessi; alleanza di timore
ed egli mi temette ed ebbe riverenza del mio nome.
6 Un insegnamento fedele era sulla sua bocca,
né c'era falsità sulle sue labbra;
con pace e rettitudine ha camminato davanti a me
e ha trattenuto molti dal male.
7 Infatti le labbra del sacerdote
devono custodire la scienza
e dalla sua bocca si ricerca l'istruzione,
perché egli è messaggero del Signore degli eserciti.
8 Voi invece vi siete allontanati dalla retta via
e siete stati d'inciampo a molti
con il vostro insegnamento;
avete rotto l'alleanza di Levi,
dice il Signore degli eserciti.
9 Perciò anch'io vi ho reso spregevoli
e abbietti davanti a tutto il popolo,
perché non avete osservato le mie disposizioni
e avete usato parzialità riguardo alla legge.

Matrimoni misti e divorzi

10 Non abbiamo forse tutti noi un solo Padre? Forse non ci ha creati un unico Dio? Perché dunque agire con perfidia l'uno contro l'altro profanando l'alleanza dei nostri padri? 11 Giuda è stato sleale e l'abominio è stato commesso in Israele e in Gerusalemme. Giuda infatti ha osato profanare il santuario caro al Signore e ha sposato le figlie d'un dio straniero! 12 Elimini il Signore chi ha agito così dalle tende di Giacobbe, il testimone e il mallevadore, e colui che offre l'offerta al Signore degli eserciti.

13 Un'altra cosa fate ancora; voi coprite di lacrime, di pianti e di sospiri l'altare del Signore, perché egli non guarda all'offerta, né la gradisce con benevolenza dalle vostre mani. 14 E chiedete: Perché? Perché il Signore è testimone fra te e la donna della tua giovinezza, che ora perfidamente tradisci, mentr'essa è la tua consorte, la donna legata a te da un patto.

15 Non fece egli un essere solo dotato di carne e soffio vitale? Che cosa cerca quest'unico essere, se non prole da parte di Dio? Custodite dunque il vostro soffio vitale e nessuno tradisca la donna della sua giovinezza. 16 Perché io detesto il ripudio, dice il Signore Dio d'Israele, e chi copre d'iniquità la propria veste, dice il Signore degli eserciti. Custodite la vostra vita dunque e non vogliate agire con perfidia.

Il giorno del Signore

17 Voi avete stancato il Signore con le vostre parole; eppure chiedete: Come lo abbiamo stancato? Quando affermate: Chiunque fa il male è come se fosse buono agli occhi del Signore e in lui si compiace; o quando esclamate: Dov'è il Dio della giustizia?

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Malachia 2
La Nuova Diodati

2 «E ora questo comandamento è per voi, o sacerdoti.

2 Se non date ascolto, se non vi mettete in cuore di dar gloria al mio nome» dice l'Eterno degli eserciti, «manderò su di voi la maledizione e maledirò le vostre benedizioni; sí, le ho già maledette, perché non vi mettete questo in cuore.

3 Ecco, io sgriderò il vostro seme, e spargerò escrementi sulle vostre facce, gli escrementi delle vostre feste solenni, e voi sarete portati via con questi.

4 Allora riconoscerete che io vi ho mandato questo comandamento, affinché il mio patto con Levi possa continuare», dice l'Eterno degli eserciti.

5 «Il mio patto con lui era un patto di vita e di pace, che io gli concessi perché mi temesse, ed egli mi temette e fu terrorizzato davanti al mio nome.

6 La legge di verità era nella sua bocca, e non si trovava alcuna perversità sulle sue labbra; camminava con me nella pace e nella rettitudine e ne ritrasse molti dall'iniquità.

7 Poiché le labbra del sacerdote dovrebbero custodire la conoscenza e dalla sua bocca uno dovrebbe cercare la legge, perché egli è il messaggero dell'Eterno degli eserciti.

8 Voi invece vi siete allontanati dalla via, avete fatto inciampare molti nella legge, avete violato il patto di Levi», dice l'Eterno degli eserciti.

9 «Perciò anch'io vi ho reso spregevoli e abietti davanti a tutto il popolo, perché non avete osservato le mie vie, e avete usato parzialità nell'applicazione della legge».

10 Non abbiamo tutti uno stesso Padre? Non ci ha creati uno stesso Dio? Perché dunque agiamo con perfidia l'uno verso l'altro, profanando il patto dei nostri padri?

11 Giuda ha agito con perfidia e un'abominazione è stata commessa in Israele e in Gerusalemme perché Giuda ha profanato il luogo santo dell'Eterno, che egli ama, e ha sposato la figlia di un dio straniero.

12 L'Eterno sterminerà dalle tende di Giacobbe colui che fa questo, chi veglia, chi risponde e chi offre un'oblazione all'Eterno degli eserciti.

13 Voi fate anche quest'altra cosa: coprite l'altare, dell'Eterno di lacrime, di pianto e di lamenti, perché non riguarda piú con favore la vostra offerta e non la riceve piú con piacere dalle vostre mani.

14 Eppure dite: «Per quale ragione?». Poiché l'Eterno è testimone fra te e la moglie della tua giovinezza, verso la quale ti sei comportato perfidamente, benché ella sia la tua compagna e la moglie del tuo patto.

15 Ma non li fece Dio uno e nondimeno lo spirito rimase in lui? E perché mai uno? Poiché egli cercava una discendenza da DIO. Badate dunque al vostro spirito e nessuno si comporti perfidamente verso la moglie della sua giovinezza.

16 Poiché l'Eterno, il DIO d'Israele, dice che egli odia il divorzio e chi copre di violenza la sua veste», dice l'Eterno degli eserciti. Badate dunque al vostro spirito e non comportatevi perfidamente.

17 Voi stancate l'Eterno con le vostre parole, eppure dite: «In che cosa lo abbiamo stancato?». Perché voi dite: «Chiunque fa il male è gradito all'Eterno, che si compiace in lui», oppure: «Dov'è il DIO della giustizia?».

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Malachi 2
New English Translation

The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message

2 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If you do not listen and take seriously[a] the need to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will send judgment[b] on you and turn your blessings into curses—indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. 3 I am about to discipline your children[c] and will spread offal[d] on your faces,[e] the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant[f] may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 “My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. 6 He taught what was true;[g] sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him[h] because he is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law;[i] you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,”[j] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent that you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your[k] instruction.”

The Rebellion of the People

10 Do we not all have one father?[l] Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, thus making light of the covenant of our ancestors? 11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned[m] the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god![n] 12 May the Lord cut off from the community[o] of Jacob every last person who does this,[p] as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!

13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears[q] as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. 14 Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young,[r] to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.[s] 15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this.[t] What did our ancestor[u] do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.[v] 16 “I hate divorce,”[w] says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,”[x] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion,[y] and he delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:2 tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”
  2. Malachi 2:2 tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”
  3. Malachi 2:3 tc The phrase “discipline your children” is disputed. The LXX and Vulgate suppose זְרוֹעַ (zeroaʿ, “arm”) for the MT זֶרַע (zeraʿ, “seed”; hence, “children”). Then, for the MT גֹעֵר (goʿer, “rebuking”) the same versions suggest גָּרַע (garaʿ, “take away”). The resulting translation is “I am about to take away your arm” (cf. NAB “deprive you of the shoulder”). However, this reading is unlikely. It is common for a curse (v. 2) to fall on offspring (see, e.g., Deut 28:18, 32, 41, 53, 55, 57), but a curse never takes the form of a broken or amputated arm. It is preferable to retain the reading of the MT here.
  4. Malachi 2:3 tn The Hebrew term פֶרֶשׁ (feresh, “offal”) refers to the entrails as ripped out in preparing a sacrificial victim (BDB 831 s.v. פֶּרֶשׁ). This graphic term has been variously translated: “dung” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NLT); “refuse” (NKJV, NASB); “offal” (NEB, NIV).
  5. Malachi 2:3 sn See Zech 3:3-4 for similar coarse imagery which reflects cultic disqualification.
  6. Malachi 2:4 sn My covenant refers to the priestly covenant through Aaron and his grandson Phinehas (see Exod 6:16-20; Num 25:10-13; Jer 33:21-22). The point here is to contrast the priestly ideal with the disgraceful manner in which it was being carried out in postexilic times.
  7. Malachi 2:6 tn Heb “True teaching was in his mouth”; cf. NASB, NRSV “True instruction (doctrine NAB) was in his mouth.”
  8. Malachi 2:7 tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).
  9. Malachi 2:8 tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).
  10. Malachi 2:8 tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”
  11. Malachi 2:9 tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).
  12. Malachi 2:10 sn The rhetorical question Do we not all have one father? by no means teaches the “universal fatherhood of God,” that is, that all people equally are children of God. The reference to the covenant in v. 10 as well as to Israel and Judah (v. 11) makes it clear that the referent of “we” is God’s elect people.
  13. Malachi 2:11 tn Or perhaps “secularized”; cf. NIV “desecrated”; TEV, NLT “defiled”; CEV “disgraced.”
  14. Malachi 2:11 tn Heb “has married the daughter of a foreign god.” Marriage is used here as a metaphor to describe Judah’s idolatry, that is, her unfaithfulness to the Lord and “remarriage” to pagan gods. But spiritual intermarriage found expression in literal, physical marriage as well, as vv. 14-16 indicate.
  15. Malachi 2:12 tn Heb “tents,” used figuratively for the community here (cf. NCV, TEV); NLT “the nation of Israel.”
  16. Malachi 2:12 tc Heb “every man who does this, him who is awake and him who answers.” For “answers” the LXX suggests an underlying Hebrew text of עָנָה (ʿanah, “to be humbled”), and then the whole phrase is modified slightly: “until he is humbled.” This requires also that the MT עֵר (ʿer, “awake”) be read as עֵד (ʿed, “until”; here the LXX reads ἕως, heōs). The reading of the LXX is most likely an alteration to correct what is arguably a difficult text.tn Heb “every man who does this, him who is awake and him who answers.” The idea seems to be a merism expressing totality, that is, everybody from the awakener to the awakened, thus “every last person who does this” (NLT similar); NIV “whoever he may be.”
  17. Malachi 2:13 sn You cover the altar of the Lord with tears. These tears are the false tears of hypocrisy, not genuine tears of repentance. The people weep because the Lord will not hear them, not because of their sin.
  18. Malachi 2:14 tn Heb “the Lord is a witness between you and [between] the wife of your youth.”
  19. Malachi 2:14 sn Though there is no explicit reference to marriage vows in the OT (but see Job 7:13; Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8), the term law (Heb “covenant”) here asserts that such vows or agreements must have existed. References to divorce documents (e.g., Deut 24:1-3; Jer 3:8) also presuppose the existence of marriage documents.
  20. Malachi 2:15 tn Heb “and not one has done, and a remnant of the spirit to him.” The very elliptical nature of the statement suggests it is proverbial. The present translation represents an attempt to clarify the meaning of the statement (cf. NASB).
  21. Malachi 2:15 tn Heb “the one.” This is an oblique reference to Abraham who sought to obtain God’s blessing by circumventing God’s own plan for him by taking Hagar as wife (Gen 16:1-6). The result of this kind of intermarriage was, of course, disastrous (Gen 16:11-12).
  22. Malachi 2:15 sn The wife he took in his youth probably refers to the first wife one married (cf. NCV “the wife you married when you were young”).
  23. Malachi 2:16 tc The verb שָׂנֵא (saneʾ) appears to be a third person form, “he hates,” which makes little sense in the context, unless one emends the following word to a third person verb as well. Then one might translate, “he [who] hates [his wife] [and] divorces her…is guilty of violence.” A similar translation is advocated by M. A. Shields, “Syncretism and Divorce in Malachi 2, 10-16, ” ZAW 111 (1999): 81-85. However, it is possible that the first person pronoun אָנֹכִי (ʾanokhi, “I”) has accidentally dropped from the text after כִּי (ki). If one restores the pronoun, the form שָׂנֵא can be taken as a participle and the text translated, “for I hate” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT). sn Though the statement “I hate divorce” may (and should) be understood as a comprehensive biblical principle, the immediate context suggests that the divorce in view is that of one Jewish person by another in order to undertake subsequent marriages. The injunction here by no means contradicts Ezra’s commands to Jewish men to divorce their heathen wives (Ezra 9-10).
  24. Malachi 2:16 tn Heb “him who covers his garment with violence” (similar ASV, NRSV). Here “garment” is a metaphor for appearance and “violence” a metonymy of effect for cause. God views divorce as an act of violence against the victim.
  25. Malachi 2:17 tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”
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Malachi 2
New International Version

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?

11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable(AF) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves(AG) by marrying(AH) women who worship a foreign god.(AI) 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove(AJ) him from the tents of Jacob[c](AK)—even though he brings an offering(AL) to the Lord Almighty.

13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.(AM) You weep and wail(AN) because he no longer looks with favor(AO) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.(AP) 14 You ask,(AQ) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness(AR) between you and the wife of your youth.(AS) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.(AT)

15 Has not the one God made you?(AU) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.[d](AV) So be on your guard,(AW) and do not be unfaithful(AX) to the wife of your youth.

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

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

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

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

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

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

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:3 Or will blight your grain
  2. Malachi 2:10 Or father
  3. Malachi 2:12 Or 12 May the Lord remove from the tents of Jacob anyone who gives testimony in behalf of the man who does this
  4. Malachi 2:15 The meaning of the Hebrew for the first part of this verse is uncertain.
  5. Malachi 2:16 Or “I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “because the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,”
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