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祭司违命背约

祭司啊!现在这命令是给你们的。 万军之耶和华说:“你们若不听从,若不放在心上,不把荣耀归给我的名,我就使咒诅临到你们中间,我要咒诅你们应得的福分,并且已经咒诅了,因为你们没有把这命令放在心上。 我要斥责你们的子孙,也要把粪涂抹在你们的脸上,就是节期祭牲的粪;人要把你们抬到粪堆去。” 万军之耶和华说:“这样,你们就知道是我把这命令给你们,使我与利未所立的约得以存留。 我与他所立的是生命和平安的约,也把这些赐给了他。我要使他敬畏我,又畏惧我的名。 在他的口中有真理的教训,在他的嘴里也没有不义;他以平安和正直与我同行,使许多人回头离开罪孽。” 祭司的嘴当保存知识,人要从他的口中寻求教训,因为他是万军耶和华的使者。 万军之耶和华说:“你们却偏离了正路,使许多人在律法上跌倒;你们也破坏了我与利未所立的约。 因此,我也使你们在众人面前被藐视、受轻看,因为你们不遵守我的道,在律法上徇人的情面。”

犹大人不忠不贞

10 我们不是同有一位父吗?不是同一位 神创造我们吗?为甚么我们各人对自己的兄弟不忠,亵渎我们列祖的约呢? 11 犹大人行了诡诈,在以色列和耶路撒冷中作了可憎的事;因为犹大人亵渎耶和华所爱的圣所,娶了事奉外族神的女子为妻。 12 行这事的,无论是主动的,或是附从的(“无论是主动的,或是附从的”直译作“叫醒的、答应的”),连那献礼物给万军耶和华的,耶和华必把那人从雅各的帐棚中除掉。 13 你们又行了这事:使眼泪、哀哭和呻吟盖满了耶和华的坛,因为耶和华不再垂看礼物,也不喜悦从你们手中收纳。 14 你们还问:“为甚么呢?”因为耶和华在你和你年轻时所娶的妻子中间作证;她是你的伴侣,是你立约的妻子,你竟对她不忠! 15  神所作的不是一个吗?其余的气息都是属于他的。那一个寻求甚么呢?就是 神的子孙。(本节原文意思不确定)所以要谨守你们的灵性,不可对年轻时所娶的妻子不忠。 16 耶和华以色列的 神说:“我恨恶休妻和以强暴待妻子。”万军之耶和华说:“所以要谨守你们的灵性,不可行诡诈的事。”

17 你们用自己的言语使耶和华厌烦,你们还说:“我们怎样使他厌烦呢?”因为你们说:“作恶的,耶和华都看为善,并且喜悦他们。”或说:“公义的 神在哪里呢?”

And now, O ye priests, this commandment is to you.

If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts: I will send poverty upon you, and will curse your blessings, yea I will curse them, because you have not laid it to heart.

Behold, I will cast the shoulder to you, and I will scatter upon your face the dung of your solemnities, and it shall take you away with it.

And you shall know that I sent you this commandment, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

My covenant was with him of life and peace: and I gave him fear: and he feared me, and he was afraid before my name.

The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace, and in equity, and turned many away from iniquity.

For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.

But you have departed out of the way, and have caused many to stumble at the law: you have made void the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

Therefore have I also made you contemptible, and base before all people, as you have not kept my ways, and have accepted persons in the law.

10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why then doth every one of us despise his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers?

11 Juda hath transgressed, and abomination hath been committed in Israel, and in Jerusalem: for Juda hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

12 The Lord will cut off the man that hath done this, both the master, and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering to the Lord of hosts.

13 And this again have you done, you have covered the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and bellowing, so that I have no more a regard to sacrifice, neither do I accept any atonement at your hands.

14 And you have said: For what cause? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee, and the wife of thy youth, whom thou hast despised: yet she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant.

15 Did not one make her, and she is the residue of his spirit? And what doth one seek, but the seed of God? Keep then your spirit, and despise not the wife of thy youth.

16 When thou shalt hate her put her away, saith the Lord the God of Israel: but iniquity shall cover his garment, saith the Lord of hosts, keep your spirit, and despise not.

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words, and you said: Wherein have we wearied him? In that you say: Every one that doth evil, is good in the sight of the Lord, and such please him: or surely where is the God of judgment?

Additional Warning to the Priests

“And now, you priests, this warning is for you.(A) 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.

“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) And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi(H) may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. “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. 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)

“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) 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. “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,”