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祭司違命背約

祭司啊!現在這命令是給你們的。 萬軍之耶和華說:“你們若不聽從,若不放在心上,不把榮耀歸給我的名,我就使咒詛臨到你們中間,我要咒詛你們應得的福分,並且已經咒詛了,因為你們沒有把這命令放在心上。 我要斥責你們的子孫,也要把糞塗抹在你們的臉上,就是節期祭牲的糞;人要把你們抬到糞堆去。” 萬軍之耶和華說:“這樣,你們就知道是我把這命令給你們,使我與利未所立的約得以存留。 我與他所立的是生命和平安的約,也把這些賜給了他。我要使他敬畏我,又畏懼我的名。 在他的口中有真理的教訓,在他的嘴裡也沒有不義;他以平安和正直與我同行,使許多人回頭離開罪孽。” 祭司的嘴當保存知識,人要從他的口中尋求教訓,因為他是萬軍耶和華的使者。 萬軍之耶和華說:“你們卻偏離了正路,使許多人在律法上跌倒;你們也破壞了我與利未所立的約。 因此,我也使你們在眾人面前被藐視、受輕看,因為你們不遵守我的道,在律法上徇人的情面。”

猶大人不忠不貞

10 我們不是同有一位父嗎?不是同一位 神創造我們嗎?為甚麼我們各人對自己的兄弟不忠,褻瀆我們列祖的約呢? 11 猶大人行了詭詐,在以色列和耶路撒冷中作了可憎的事;因為猶大人褻瀆耶和華所愛的聖所,娶了事奉外族神的女子為妻。 12 行這事的,無論是主動的,或是附從的(“無論是主動的,或是附從的”直譯作“叫醒的、答應的”),連那獻禮物給萬軍耶和華的,耶和華必把那人從雅各的帳棚中除掉。 13 你們又行了這事:使眼淚、哀哭和呻吟蓋滿了耶和華的壇,因為耶和華不再垂看禮物,也不喜悅從你們手中收納。 14 你們還問:“為甚麼呢?”因為耶和華在你和你年輕時所娶的妻子中間作證;她是你的伴侶,是你立約的妻子,你竟對她不忠! 15  神所作的不是一個嗎?其餘的氣息都是屬於他的。那一個尋求甚麼呢?就是 神的子孫。(本節原文意思不確定)所以要謹守你們的靈性,不可對年輕時所娶的妻子不忠。 16 耶和華以色列的 神說:“我恨惡休妻和以強暴待妻子。”萬軍之耶和華說:“所以要謹守你們的靈性,不可行詭詐的事。”

17 你們用自己的言語使耶和華厭煩,你們還說:“我們怎樣使他厭煩呢?”因為你們說:“作惡的,耶和華都看為善,並且喜悅他們。”或說:“公義的 神在哪裡呢?”

A Warning to the Priests

“Listen, you priests—this command is for you! Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart. I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.

“The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.”

A Call to Faithfulness

10 Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?

11 Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the Lord’s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols. 12 May the Lord cut off from the nation of Israel[a] every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. 14 You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.

15 Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his.[b] And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 “For I hate divorce!”[c] says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,[d]” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.

You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Footnotes

  1. 2:12 Hebrew from the tents of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
  2. 2:15 Or Didn’t the one Lord make us and preserve our life and breath? or Didn’t the one Lord make her, both flesh and spirit? The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  3. 2:16a Hebrew For he hates divorcing.
  4. 2:16b Hebrew to cover one’s garment with violence.

“And so then, O priests, this command is for you: If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart[a] to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; moreover I have already cursed them because you are not taking it to heart.[b] Look! I am going to rebuke your offspring,[c] and I will scatter offal on your faces, the offal of your religious feasts, and you will be carried to it.[d]

“Then you will know that I have sent to you this command, that my covenant with Levi continues,”[e] says Yahweh of hosts. “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. This required reverence, and he revered[f] me and stood in awe before[g] my name. The instruction of truth[h] was in his mouth, and wickedness was not found on his lips. In peace and in uprightness[i] he walked with me, and he brought back many from sin.[j] For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction[k] from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts. But you, you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction;[l] you have ruined the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. “And in turn I have made you despised and humbled before all the people, inasmuch as you are not keeping[m] my way, but are favoring your own instruction.”[n]

Yahweh Hates Faithlessness

10 Do we not all have[o] one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we unfaithful to one another,[p] profaning the covenant of our ancestors?[q] 11 Judah has been faithless, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign[r] god. 12 May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, the one who is awake and who answers, and the one who brings an offering to Yahweh of hosts!

13 And this you do as well:[s] you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because he[t] no longer regards the offering[u] or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you ask, “For what reason?”[v] Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she is your marriage partner and your wife by covenant.[w] 15 Did not one God make them?[x] But a remnant of the spirit is his.[y] And what does the one God desire? An offspring of God.[z] You must be attentive to[aa] your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. 16 “For I hate divorce,”[ab] says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and he who covers his clothing with violence,” says Yahweh of hosts. “You must be attentive to[ac] your spirit and you must not be unfaithful.”

17 You have wearied Yahweh with your words, but you ask, “With what have we wearied him?” You have done so when you say,[ad] “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight[ae] of Yahweh, and in them he delights,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:2 Literally, “place it on your heart”
  2. Malachi 2:2 Literally “you are not placing it on your heart”
  3. Malachi 2:3 Literally “for you the offspring”
  4. Malachi 2:3 The Hebrew is difficult. The subject is indefinite, and “it” likely refers to a refuse or waste pile
  5. Malachi 2:4 Literally “be”
  6. Malachi 2:5 Or “feared”
  7. Malachi 2:5 Literally “from the face of”
  8. Malachi 2:6 Or “law of truth”
  9. Malachi 2:6 Or “rectitude,” or “fairness”
  10. Malachi 2:6 Or “iniquity”
  11. Malachi 2:7 Or “law”
  12. Malachi 2:8 Or “the law”
  13. Malachi 2:9 Or “observing”
  14. Malachi 2:9 Literally “lifting faces in the instruction/law”
  15. Malachi 2:10 Literally “Is for all of us not”
  16. Malachi 2:10 Literally “each man to his brother”
  17. Malachi 2:10 Or “fathers”
  18. Malachi 2:11 Or “pagan”
  19. Malachi 2:13 Literally “a second time”
  20. Malachi 2:13 Yahweh
  21. Malachi 2:13 Literally “there is no longer turning to the offering”
  22. Malachi 2:14 Literally “Because of what?”
  23. Malachi 2:14 Literally “the wife of your covenant”
  24. Malachi 2:15 Literally “Not one did he make”
  25. Malachi 2:15 The meaning of this sentence is difficult; literally “And a remnant of the spirit to him”
  26. Malachi 2:15 Or “a godly offspring”
  27. Malachi 2:15 Literally “You must keep watch on”
  28. Malachi 2:16 Hebrew “sending away”
  29. Malachi 2:16 Literally “You must keep watch on”
  30. Malachi 2:17 Literally “at your saying”
  31. Malachi 2:17 Literally “eyes”

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

If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

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

My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and 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 equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

11 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah 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 doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts.

13 And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

16 For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

17 Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?