玛拉基书 2
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
祭司违命背约
2 祭司啊！现在这命令是给你们的。 2 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。 3 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。” 4 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。 5 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。 6 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。” 7 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。 8 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。 9 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？”
Malachi 2
New Catholic Bible
You Have Made Many People Stumble
Chapter 2
1 And now, O priests,
this commandment is for you.
2 If you refuse to listen to me
and do not sincerely resolve
to give glory to my name,
says the Lord of hosts,
I will send a curse on you,
and I will turn your blessings into a curse.
Indeed, I have already done so
because you have not heeded my warning.
3 I will deprive you of the shoulder
and spread dung on your faces,
the dung of your offerings,
and I will banish you from my presence.
4 Then you will know
that I sent you this commandment
because I wish to maintain
my covenant with Levi,
says the Lord of hosts.
5 My covenant with him
was one of life and peace,
which I bestowed on him.
He revered me
and held my name in awe.
6 The instruction he offered was true,
and no dishonesty issued from his mouth.
He walked with me in integrity and uprightness,
and he turned many away from a sinful life.
7 The lips of a priest should safeguard knowledge,
and people should seek instruction from his mouth
because he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8 But you have turned aside from the way
and caused many to stumble
as the result of your instruction.
You have destroyed the covenant of Levi,
says the Lord of hosts.
9 Therefore, I have made you despised and vile
in the eyes of all the people,
inasmuch as you have disregarded my ways
and have not been impartial
in your interpretation of the law.
Profaned Marriage[a]
10 Do we all not have the one Father?
Has not one God created us?
Why then do we break faith with one another,
profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
11 Judah[b] has broken faith,
and an abominable thing has been done
in Israel and in Jerusalem.
By marrying the daughter of a foreign god,
Judah has profaned the Lord’s beloved sanctuary.
12 May the Lord banish from the tents of Jacob
any who do this,
and also deprive them of any witness or advocate
or someone to present offerings to the Lord of hosts.
You Betray the Woman of Your Youth[c]
13 And this you are to do as well:
you must cover the altar of the Lord
with tears, with weeping and moaning,
because at present he refuses to consider your offering
or to accept it with satisfaction from your hand.
14 If you ask the reason why,
it is because the Lord stands as witness
between you and the wife of your youth
with whom you have broken faith,
even though she is your partner
and your wife by a solemn covenant.
15 Did not the one God make her,
both flesh and spirit?
And what does the one God require
but God-given offspring?
Therefore, you must safeguard your own life,
and let none of you be unfaithful
to the wife of your youth.
16 For I hate divorce,
says the Lord, the God of Israel,
as well as covering one’s garment with injustice,
says the Lord of hosts.
Therefore, have respect for your own life,
and do not be unfaithful.
God Will Come and Do Justice
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.
Yet you ask, “How have we wearied him?”
By asserting, “All who do evil
are good in the eyes of the Lord;
indeed, he delights in them.”
Or by asking,
“Where is the God of justice?”
Footnotes
- Malachi 2:10 What importance does marriage any longer have in the setting of the covenant if it becomes the accepted thing to take an idolatrous wife or have ready recourse to divorce? The prophet is angered by these practices.
- Malachi 2:11 Judah: signifies here all who belong to the people of God. Centuries-long experience (beginning with Solomon: 1 Ki 11:4) had shown how dangerous marriages with foreign women were: these women, holding tightly to their various forms of worship, drew their husbands into them.
- Malachi 2:13 Like all the peoples of the time, Israel allowed a husband to repudiate his wife (Mt 24:1-4). The prophet is more demanding: in his eyes, marriage is a sacred bond that cannot be broken without going against the intention of the Creator (Gen 2:24). This passage leads toward the ideal that Jesus will propose (Mt 19:1-9).
Malachi 2
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Warning to the Priests
2 ‘Therefore, this decree(A) is for you priests: 2 If you don’t listen, and if you don’t take it to heart(B) to honour my name,’ says the Lord of Armies, ‘I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings.(C) In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart.
3 ‘Look, I am going to rebuke your descendants,(D) and I will spread animal waste[a] over your faces, the waste from your festival sacrifices,(E) and you will be taken away with it. 4 Then you will know that I sent you this decree, so that my covenant with Levi(F) may continue,’ says the Lord of Armies. 5 ‘My covenant with him was one of life and peace,(G) and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.(H) 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me(I) in peace and integrity and turned many from iniquity.(J) 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should desire instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Armies.(K)
8 ‘You, on the other hand, have turned from the way.(L) You have caused many to stumble(M) by your instruction. You have violated[b] the covenant of Levi,’ says the Lord of Armies. 9 ‘So I in turn have made you despised(N) and humiliated before all the people because you are not keeping my ways but are showing partiality in your instruction.’(O)
Judah’s Marital Unfaithfulness
10 Don’t all of us have one Father?(P) Didn’t one God create us?(Q) Why then do we act treacherously against one another,(R) profaning(S) the covenant of our ancestors?(T) 11 Judah has acted treacherously, and a detestable(U) act has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned(V) the Lord’s sanctuary,[c](W) which he loves,(X) and has married the daughter of a foreign god.[d](Y) 12 May the Lord cut off(Z) from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, whoever he may be,[e](AA) even if he presents an offering to the Lord of Armies.
13 This is another thing you do. You are covering the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning,(AB) because he no longer respects your offerings or receives them gladly from your hands.(AC)
14 And you ask, ‘Why? ’ Because even though the Lord has been a witness(AD) between you and the wife of your youth,(AE) you have acted treacherously against her. She was your marriage partner(AF) and your wife by covenant.(AG) 15 Didn’t God make them one and give them a portion of spirit? What is the one seeking?[f] Godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully,[g](AH) so that no one acts treacherously against the wife of his[h] youth.
16 ‘If he hates(AI) and divorces his wife,’(AJ) says the Lord God of Israel, ‘he[i] covers his garment with injustice,’(AK) says the Lord of Armies. Therefore, watch yourselves carefully,[j] and do not act treacherously.
Judgement at the Lord’s Coming
17 You have wearied the Lord(AL) with your words.
Yet you ask, ‘How have we wearied him? ’
When you say, ‘Everyone who does what is evil is good in the Lord’s sight, and he is delighted with them,(AM) or else where is the God of justice? ’(AN)
Footnotes
- 2:3 Dung or entrails
- 2:8 Lit corrupted
- 2:11 Or profaned what is holy to the Lord
- 2:11 = a woman who worshipped a foreign god
- 2:12 Hb obscure
- 2:15 Hb obscure
- 2:15 Lit So guard yourselves in your spirit
- 2:15 Lit your
- 2:16 Or The Lord God of Israel says that he hates divorce and the one who
- 2:16 Lit Therefore, guard yourselves in your spirit
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
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