Malachi 1:1-11

Common English Bible

² I have loved you, says the Lord;
        but you say, “How have you loved us?”
Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?
says the Lord.
        I loved Jacob, ³ but I rejected Esau.
I turned Esau’s mountains into desolation,
        his inheritance into a wilderness for jackals.
⁴ Edom may say, “We are beaten down, but we will rebuild the ruins”;
    but the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
    They may build, but I will tear them down.
    They will call themselves a wicked territory,
            the people against whom the Lord rages forever.
⁵ Your eyes will see it and you will say,
        “May the Lord be great beyond the borders of Israel.”

⁶ A son honors a father,
        and a servant honors his master.
But if I’m a father, where is my honor?
    Or if I’m a master, where is my respect?
says the Lord of heavenly forces
        to you priests who despise my name.
So you say, “How have we despised your name?”
⁷         By approaching my altar with polluted food.
But you say, “How have we polluted it^[b]?”
        When you say, “The table of the Lord can be despised.”
⁸ If you bring a blind animal to sacrifice, isn’t that evil?
If you bring a lame or sick one, isn’t that evil?
Would you bring it to your governor?
Would he be pleased with it or accept you?
says the Lord of heavenly forces.