The Lord Rebukes the Priests

2 “And now, ^(A)O priests, ^(B)this command is for you. ^2 (C)If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send ^(D)the curse upon you and I will curse ^(E)your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. ³ Behold, ^(F)I will rebuke your offspring,^[a] and ^(G)spread dung on your faces, the ^(H)dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.^{[b] 4} So shall you know that I have sent ^(I)this command to you, that ^(J)my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. ⁵ My covenant with him was one of life and ^(K)peace, and I gave them to him. ^(L)It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. ^6 (M)True instruction^[c] was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he ^(N)turned many from iniquity. ⁷ For ^(O)the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people^[d] should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. ⁸ But you have turned aside from the way. ^(P)You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted ^(Q)the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, ⁹ and so ^(R)I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but ^(S)show partiality in your instruction.”

Judah Profaned the Covenant

¹⁰ Have we not all ^(T)one Father? Has not ^(U)one God created us? Why then are we ^(V)faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹ Judah has been ^(W)faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For ^(X)Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹² May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant^[e] of the man who does this, who ^(Y)brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³ And this second thing you do. ^(Z)You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ^14 (AA)But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ^(AB)was witness between you and the wife of your youth, ^(AC)to whom ^(AD)you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ^15 (AE)Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?^[f] And what was the one God^[g] seeking?^{[h] (AF)}Godly offspring. So guard yourselves^[i] in your spirit, and let none of you be ^(AG)faithless to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ “For ^(AH)the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,^[j] says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers^[k] his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and ^(AI)do not be faithless.”

The Messenger of the Lord

^17 (AJ)You have wearied the Lord with your words. ^(AK)But you say, “How have we wearied him?” ^(AL)By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, ^(AM)“Where is the God of justice?”

Warning Against Worldliness

4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions^[a] are ^(A)at war within you?^{[b] 2} You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^(B)wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ^4 (C)You adulterous people!^[c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(D)Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^(E)that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But ^(F)he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^(G)“God opposes the proud but ^(H)gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^(I)Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8 (J)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^(K)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^(L)purify your hearts, ^(M)you double-minded. ^9 (N)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (O)Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

^11 (P)Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.^[d] The one who speaks against a brother or ^(Q)judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is only ^(R)one lawgiver and ^(S)judge, he who is able to save and ^(T)to destroy. But ^(U)who are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ^(V)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^(W)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(X)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^(Y)All such boasting is evil. ^17 (Z)So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, ^(AA)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(AB)miseries that are coming upon you. ^2 (AC)Your riches have rotted and ^(AD)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(AE)You have laid up treasure ^(AF)in the last days. ⁴ Behold, ^(AG)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^(AH)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^(AI)the Lord of hosts. ^5 (AJ)You have lived on the earth in luxury and ^(AK)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^(AL)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^(AM)murdered ^(AN)the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[e] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^(AO)the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also, be patient. ^(AP)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^(AQ)is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^(AR)so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(AS)the Judge is standing ^(AT)at the door. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^(AU)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^(AV)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^(AW)the purpose of the Lord, how ^(AX)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brothers, ^(AY)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him ^(AZ)sing praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^(BA)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And ^(BB)if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore, ^(BC)confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, ^(BD)that you may be healed. ^(BE)The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.^{[f] 17} Elijah was a man ^(BF)with a nature like ours, and ^(BG)he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for ^(BH)three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ^18 (BI)Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

¹⁹ My brothers, ^(BJ)if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone ^(BK)brings him back, ²⁰ let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering ^(BL)will save his soul from death and ^(BM)will cover a multitude of sins.