Malachi 2:1-16
New King James Version
Corrupt Priests
2 “And now, O (A)priests, this commandment is for you.
2 (B)If you will not hear,
And if you will not take it to heart,
To give glory to My name,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“I will send a curse upon you,
And I will curse your blessings.
Yes, I have cursed them (C)already,
Because you do not take it to heart.
3 “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants
And spread (D)refuse on your faces,
The refuse of your solemn feasts;
And one will (E)take you away [a]with it.
4 Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you,
That My covenant with Levi may continue,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
5 “My(F) covenant was with him, one of life and peace,
And I gave them to him (G)that he might fear Me;
So he feared Me
And was reverent before My name.
6 (H)The[b] law of truth was in his mouth,
And [c]injustice was not found on his lips.
He walked with Me in peace and equity,
And (I)turned many away from iniquity.
7 “For(J) the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
(K)For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8 But you have departed from the way;
You (L)have caused many to stumble at the law.
(M)You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
9 “Therefore (N)I also have made you contemptible and base
Before all the people,
Because you have not kept My ways
But have shown (O)partiality in the law.”
Treachery of Infidelity
10 (P)Have we not all one Father?
(Q)Has not one God created us?
Why do we deal treacherously with one another
By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
11 Judah has dealt treacherously,
And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,
For Judah has (R)profaned
The Lord’s holy institution which He loves:
He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob
The man who does this, being [d]awake and aware,
Yet (S)who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
13 And this is the second thing you do:
You cover the altar of the Lord with tears,
With weeping and crying;
So He does not regard the offering anymore,
Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
14 Yet you say, “For what reason?”
Because the Lord has been witness
Between you and (T)the wife of your youth,
With whom you have dealt treacherously;
(U)Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant.
15 But (V)did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks (W)godly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
16 “For (X)the Lord God of Israel says
That He hates divorce,
For it covers one’s garment with violence,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Therefore take heed to your spirit,
That you do not deal treacherously.”
Footnotes
- Malachi 2:3 Lit. to it
- Malachi 2:6 Or True instruction
- Malachi 2:6 Or unrighteousness
- Malachi 2:12 Talmud, Vg. teacher and student
1 Corinthians 9
New King James Version
A Pattern of Self-Denial
9 Am (A)I not an apostle? Am I not free? (B)Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? (C)Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are (D)the [a]seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 (E)Do we have no [b]right to eat and drink? 5 Do we have no right to take along [c]a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, (F)the brothers of the Lord, and (G)Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I (H)who have no right to refrain from working? 7 Who ever (I)goes to war at his own expense? Who (J)plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who (K)tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?
8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, (L)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? 10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that (M)he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11 (N)If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? 12 If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?
(O)Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things (P)lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 (Q)Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the (R)temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? 14 Even so (S)the Lord has commanded (T)that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
15 But (U)I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for (V)it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for (W)necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, (X)I have a reward; but if against my will, (Y)I have been entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What is my reward then? That (Z)when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel [d]of Christ without charge, that I (AA)may not abuse my authority in the gospel.
Serving All Men
19 For though I am (AB)free from all men, (AC)I have made myself a servant to all, (AD)that I might win the more; 20 and (AE)to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the [e]law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 (AF)to (AG)those who are without law, as without law (AH)(not being without [f]law toward God, but under [g]law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 (AI)to the weak I became [h]as weak, that I might win the weak. (AJ)I have become all things to all men, (AK)that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
Striving for a Crown
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? (AL)Run in such a way that you may [i]obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize [j]is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for (AM)an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: (AN)not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 (AO)But I discipline my body and (AP)bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become (AQ)disqualified.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 9:2 certification
- 1 Corinthians 9:4 authority
- 1 Corinthians 9:5 Lit. a sister, a wife
- 1 Corinthians 9:18 NU omits of Christ
- 1 Corinthians 9:20 NU adds though not being myself under the law
- 1 Corinthians 9:21 NU God’s law
- 1 Corinthians 9:21 NU Christ’s law
- 1 Corinthians 9:22 NU omits as
- 1 Corinthians 9:24 win
- 1 Corinthians 9:25 exercises self-control
Malachi 2:17-3:12
New King James Version
17 (A)You have wearied the Lord with your words;
Yet you say,
“In what way have we wearied Him?”
In that you say,
(B)“Everyone who does evil
Is good in the sight of the Lord,
And He delights in them,”
Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
The Coming Messenger
3 “Behold, (C)I send My messenger,
And he will (D)prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
(E)Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, (F)He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
2 “But who can endure (G)the day of His coming?
And (H)who can stand when He appears?
For (I)He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
3 (J)He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And [a]purge them as gold and silver,
That they may (K)offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.
4 “Then (L)the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be [b]pleasant to the Lord,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.
5 And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
(M)Against perjurers,
Against those who (N)exploit wage earners and (O)widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
6 “For I am the Lord, (P)I do not change;
(Q)Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
7 Yet from the days of (R)your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
(S)Return to Me, and I will return to you,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
(T)“But you said,
‘In what way shall we return?’
Do Not Rob God
8 “Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
(U)In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
10 (V)Bring all the tithes into the (W)storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the (X)windows of heaven
And (Y)pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “And I will rebuke (Z)the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the Lord of hosts;
12 “And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be (AA)a delightful land,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
Footnotes
- Malachi 3:3 Or refine
- Malachi 3:4 pleasing
1 Corinthians 10:1-11
New King James Version
Old Testament Examples
10 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under (A)the cloud, all passed through (B)the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same (C)spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same (D)spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies (E)were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as (F)they also lusted. 7 (G)And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, (H)“The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 (I)Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as (J)some of them did, and (K)in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us [a]tempt Christ, as (L)some of them also tempted, and (M)were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as (N)some of them also complained, and (O)were destroyed by (P)the destroyer. 11 Now [b]all these things happened to them as examples, and (Q)they were written for our [c]admonition, (R)upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 Therefore (S)let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but (T)God is faithful, (U)who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to [d]bear it.
Flee from Idolatry
14 Therefore, my beloved, (V)flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to (W)wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 (X)The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the [e]communion of the blood of Christ? (Y)The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For (Z)we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
18 Observe (AA)Israel (AB)after the flesh: (AC)Are not those who eat of the sacrifices [f]partakers of the altar? 19 What am I saying then? (AD)That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles (AE)sacrifice (AF)they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 (AG)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and (AH)the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the (AI)Lord’s table and of the table of demons. 22 Or do we (AJ)provoke the Lord to jealousy? (AK)Are we stronger than He?
All to the Glory of God(AL)
23 All things are lawful [g]for me, but not all things are (AM)helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things [h]edify. 24 Let no one seek his own, but each one (AN)the other’s well-being.
25 (AO)Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; 26 for (AP)“the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”
27 If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, (AQ)eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it (AR)for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; [i]for (AS)“the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” 29 “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For (AT)why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? 30 But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food (AU)over which I give thanks?
31 (AV)Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 (AW)Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just (AX)as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
Worship and the Lord’s Supper
11 Imitate(AY) me, just as I also imitate Christ.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 10:9 test
- 1 Corinthians 10:11 NU omits all
- 1 Corinthians 10:11 instruction
- 1 Corinthians 10:13 endure
- 1 Corinthians 10:16 fellowship or sharing
- 1 Corinthians 10:18 fellowshippers or sharers
- 1 Corinthians 10:23 NU omits for me
- 1 Corinthians 10:23 build up
- 1 Corinthians 10:28 NU omits the rest of v. 28.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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