True Fasting

¹⁰ “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors,^(A) so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased^(B) with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept^(C) no offering^(D) from your hands. ¹¹ My name will be great^(E) among the nations,^(F) from where the sun rises to where it sets.^(G) In every place incense^(H) and pure offerings^(I) will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

¹² “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table^(J) is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food^(K) is contemptible.’ ¹³ And you say, ‘What a burden!’^(L) and you sniff at it contemptuously,^(M)” says the Lord Almighty.

“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices,^(N) should I accept them from your hands?”^(O) says the Lord.

⁷ “For the lips of a priest^(A) ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger^(B) of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.^{(C) 8} But you have turned from the way^(D) and by your teaching have caused many to stumble;^(E) you have violated the covenant^(F) with Levi,”^(G) says the Lord Almighty. ⁹ “So I have caused you to be despised^(H) and humiliated^(I) before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality^(J) in matters of the law.”^(K)

Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

¹⁰ Do we not all have one Father^[a]?^(L) Did not one God create us?^(M) Why do we profane the covenant^(N) of our ancestors by being unfaithful^(O) to one another?

¹¹ Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable^(P) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves^(Q) by marrying^(R) women who worship a foreign god.^{(S) 12} As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove^(T) him from the tents of Jacob^[b](U)—even though he brings an offering^(V) to the Lord Almighty.

¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.^(W) You weep and wail^(X) because he no longer looks with favor^(Y) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.^{(Z) 14} You ask,^(AA) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness^(AB) between you and the wife of your youth.^(AC) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.^(AD)

¹⁵ Has not the one God made you?^(AE) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.^[c](AF) So be on your guard,^(AG) and do not be unfaithful^(AH) to the wife of your youth.

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

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

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

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

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

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

3 “I will send my messenger,^(AP) who will prepare the way before me.^(AQ) Then suddenly the Lord^(AR) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(AS) whom you desire,^(AT) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

² But who can endure^(AU) the day of his coming?^(AV) Who can stand^(AW) when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire^(AX) or a launderer’s soap.^{(AY) 3} He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;^(AZ) he will purify^(BA) the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.^(BB) Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,^{(BC) 4} and the offerings^(BD) of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.^(BE)

⁵ “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,^(BF) adulterers^(BG) and perjurers,^(BH) against those who defraud laborers of their wages,^(BI) who oppress the widows^(BJ) and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners^(BK) among you of justice, but do not fear^(BL) me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

⁶ “I the Lord do not change.^(BM) So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.^{(BN) 7} Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away^(BO) from my decrees and have not kept them. Return^(BP) to me, and I will return to you,”^(BQ) says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask,^(BR) ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob^(BS) God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes^(BT) and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse^(BU)—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe^(BV) into the storehouse,^(BW) that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates^(BX) of heaven and pour out^(BY) so much blessing^(BZ) that there will not be room enough to store it.^{(CA) 11} I will prevent pests from devouring^(CB) your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,^(CC)” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed,^(CD) for yours will be a delightful land,”^(CE) says the Lord Almighty.^(CF)

Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God

¹³ “You have spoken arrogantly^(CG) against me,” says the Lord.

“Yet you ask,^(CH) ‘What have we said against you?’

¹⁴ “You have said, ‘It is futile^(CI) to serve^(CJ) God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements^(CK) and going about like mourners^(CL) before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵ But now we call the arrogant^(CM) blessed. Certainly evildoers^(CN) prosper,^(CO) and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

The Faithful Remnant

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.^(CP) A scroll^(CQ) of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared^(CR) the Lord and honored his name.

¹⁷ “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my^(CS) treasured possession.^(CT) I will spare^(CU) them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son^(CV) who serves him. ¹⁸ And you will again see the distinction between the righteous^(CW) and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.^(CX)