My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

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    my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(A)

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
    I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(B) of your God,
    I also will ignore your children.

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13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

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13 Therefore my people will go into exile(A)
    for lack of understanding;(B)
those of high rank(C) will die of hunger
    and the common people will be parched with thirst.(D)

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Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.

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Desire without knowledge is not good—
    how much more will hasty feet miss the way!(A)

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For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

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For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(A)
    and acknowledgment(B) of God rather than burnt offerings.(C)

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But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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And even if our gospel(A) is veiled,(B) it is veiled to those who are perishing.(C) The god(D) of this age(E) has blinded(F) the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ,(G) who is the image of God.(H) For what we preach is not ourselves,(I) but Jesus Christ as Lord,(J) and ourselves as your servants(K) for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a](L) made his light shine in our hearts(M) to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 4:6 Gen. 1:3

Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

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The Charge Against Israel

Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
    because the Lord has a charge(A) to bring
    against you who live in the land:(B)
“There is no faithfulness,(C) no love,
    no acknowledgment(D) of God in the land.(E)

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30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

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30 Since they would not accept my advice
    and spurned my rebuke,(A)
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
    and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.(B)
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
    and the complacency of fools will destroy them;(C)

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This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

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“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.

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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.

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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)

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Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:3 Or will blight your grain

14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

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14 Israel has forgotten(A) their Maker(B)
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.”(C)

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10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

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10 You have forgotten(A) God your Savior;(B)
    you have not remembered the Rock,(C) your fortress.(D)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
    and plant imported vines,(E)

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The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

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The priests did not ask,
    ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;(A)
    the leaders(B) rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,(C)
    following worthless idols.(D)

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Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

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For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach(A) and without the law.(B)

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