The Lord's Love for Israel

^2 (A)“I have loved you,” says the Lord. ^(B)But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau ^(C)Jacob's brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet ^(D)I have loved Jacob ³ but Esau I have hated. ^(E)I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”

The Priests' Polluted Offerings

^6 (A)“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am ^(B)a father, where is my honor? And if I am ^(C)a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. ^(D)But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ ^7 (E)By offering polluted food upon my altar. ^(F)But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that ^(G)the Lord's table may be despised. ^8 (H)When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.

⁷ For ^(A)the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people^[a] 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. ^(B)You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted ^(C)the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts,

¹¹ Judah has been ^(A)faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For ^(B)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^[a] of the man who does this, who ^(C)brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³ And this second thing you do. ^(D)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 (E)But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ^(F)was witness between you and the wife of your youth, ^(G)to whom ^(H)you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord ^(A)spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and ^(B)a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.

⁵ My covenant with him was one of life and ^(A)peace, and I gave them to him. ^(B)It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. ^6 (C)True instruction^[a] was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he ^(D)turned many from iniquity. ⁷ For ^(E)the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people^[b] should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

^10 (A)Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby ^(B)put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open ^(C)the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

^15 (A)Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?^[a] And what was the one God^[b] seeking?^{[c] (B)}Godly offspring. So guard yourselves^[d] in your spirit, and let none of you be ^(C)faithless to the wife of your youth.

² But for you ^(A)who fear my name, ^(B)the sun ^(C)of righteousness shall rise ^(D)with healing in its wings. You shall go out ^(E)leaping like calves from the stall.