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Malachi 2
Legacy Standard Bible

I Will Curse Your Blessings

2 “And now this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 If you do (A)not listen, and if you do not set it upon your heart to give [a]honor to My name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send the (B)curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have (C)cursed them already because you are not setting it upon your heart. 3 Behold, I am going to (D)rebuke your seed, and I will (E)spread [b]refuse on your faces, the [c]refuse of your (F)feasts; and you will be taken away [d]with it. 4 Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, [e]that My (G)covenant may [f]continue with Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. 5 “My covenant with him was one of life and (H)peace, and I gave them to him as something to be [g]feared; so he (I)feared Me and stood in [h]awe of My name. 6 [i](J)Instruction of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked (K)with Me in peace and uprightness, and he (L)turned many back from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should keep (M)knowledge, and [j]men should (N)seek [k]instruction from his mouth; for he is the (O)messenger of Yahweh of hosts. 8 But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to (P)stumble [l]by the instruction; you have [m](Q)corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. 9 “So (R)I also have made you despised and (S)low [n]before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing (T)partiality in the [o]instruction.

Judah Profaned Yahweh’s Sanctuary

10 “Do we not all have (U)one father? (V)Has not one God created us? Why do we deal (W)treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the (X)covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has dealt (Y)treacherously, and an abomination has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has (Z)profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh [p]which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, may (AA)Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers or who (AB)presents [q]an offering to Yahweh of hosts.

13 “And this is a second thing you do: you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping, and with groaning because He (AC)no longer regards the [r]offering or receives it as acceptable from your hand. 14 But you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because Yahweh has been a witness between you and the (AD)wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt (AE)treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 [s]But not one has (AF)done so, even one who has a remnant of the Spirit. And [t]what did that one do while he was seeking a (AG)godly seed? Be careful then to keep your spirit, and let no one deal (AH)treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 For [u]I hate [v](AI)divorce,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and [w]him who covers his garment with [x](AJ)wrong,” says Yahweh of hosts. “Be careful then to keep your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

17 You have (AK)wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “(AL)Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and He (AM)delights in them,” or, “(AN)Where is the God of (AO)justice?”

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:2 Or glory
  2. Malachi 2:3 Or vomit
  3. Malachi 2:3 Or vomit
  4. Malachi 2:3 Lit to
  5. Malachi 2:4 Or to be My covenant with
  6. Malachi 2:4 Lit be
  7. Malachi 2:5 Or reverenced
  8. Malachi 2:5 Lit terror
  9. Malachi 2:6 Or Law
  10. Malachi 2:7 Lit they
  11. Malachi 2:7 Or law
  12. Malachi 2:8 Or in the law
  13. Malachi 2:8 Or violated
  14. Malachi 2:9 Lit to
  15. Malachi 2:9 Or law
  16. Malachi 2:11 Or in that He has loved and married
  17. Malachi 2:12 Or a grain offering
  18. Malachi 2:13 Or grain offering
  19. Malachi 2:15 Or Did He not make one, although He had the remnant
  20. Malachi 2:15 Or why one? He sought a godly offspring.
  21. Malachi 2:16 Lit He hates
  22. Malachi 2:16 Lit sending away
  23. Malachi 2:16 Lit he covers
  24. Malachi 2:16 Or violence
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Malachi 2
Evangelical Heritage Version

A Warning to the Priests From the Lord

2 Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.

2 If you do not listen, if you do not set your heart on giving glory to my name, says the Lord of Armies, then I will send the curse[a] against you. I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already cursed your offerings because you are not putting your heart into it. 3 Yes, I will rebuke your offspring.[b] I will smear animal bowels and their contents on your faces, the bowels produced by your festivals, and you will be hauled off with them.[c]

4 You will know that I sent you this commandment, so that my covenant with Levi may continue, says the Lord of Armies. 5 My covenant with him was life and peace, which I gave to him. It was a covenant of reverence,[d] and he revered me. He respected my name. 6 The true law was in his mouth, and no injustice was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness. He turned many away from guilt. 7 The lips of a priest should be guardians of knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth because he is a messenger of the Lord of Armies.

8 But you priests have turned from the way. You have made many people stumble in regard to the law.[e] You have ruined the covenant with Levi, says the Lord of Armies. 9 So I have made you despised and humiliated in the view of all the people, because you are not keeping my ways but are showing favoritism in carrying out the law.

Instruction From the Prophet:
The Covenant Is Broken by Divorce

10 Don’t we all have one Father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why then do we violate our vows to each other, polluting the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has acted unfaithfully. A detestable thing was done in Israel and in Jerusalem when Judah polluted the holy place[f] of the Lord, which the Lord loves. Judah is married to the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any man who does this, both the one who is awake and the one who answers,[g] even if he brings an offering to the Lord of Armies!

13 This is the second thing you do: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and crying, because there is no longer any favorable response to your offering, and God is not pleased with anything from your hand. 14 So you ask, “Why is this happening?” This is why—because the Lord is a witness in the case between you and the wife you married when you were young, because you have betrayed her—though she was your partner, the wife with whom you made a covenant! 15 No one has done this who has a remnant of the Spirit.[h] And why one? He is seeking offspring from God.[i] So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not act unfaithfully against the wife you married when you were young. 16 He hates divorce! That is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. He hates it when a person wears violence as a garment. That is what the Lord of Armies says. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful.

17 You have made the Lord weary with your words. You say, “How have we made him weary?” Whenever you say that anyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s eyes or that the Lord takes pleasure in evildoers. Or whenever you say, “Where is the God of justice?”

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:2 The curse refers to the set of blessings and curses in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27 and 28.
  2. Malachi 2:3 Literally seed
  3. Malachi 2:3 The animal bowels and their contents were the waste produced by Israel’s festival sacrifices. It was to be dumped at a distance from the holy place.
  4. Malachi 2:5 Or fear
  5. Malachi 2:8 Or by your law
  6. Malachi 2:11 Or holiness
  7. Malachi 2:12 Because the meaning of this phrase is uncertain, the EHV retains a literal translation. It seems to mean every last one of them. It may mean something like the one who does this knowingly, and the one who has been warned.
  8. Malachi 2:15 Verse 15 is very difficult. There is no consensus about the translation. The Hebrew text translated very literally reads: and not one—he has done; and a remnant of spirit to him, and what the one? Desiring seed God. The translation above is an effort to connect these thoughts into a smooth translation. Other suggested translations for the first part of the sentence are: has not one God made them or has not God made them one; and for the second part of the sentence: he has left a remnant of the Spirit or they are his, in flesh and spirit. What is clear in the verse is that God’s purpose for the lifelong union of one man and one woman is godly offspring and that God hates wrongful divorce.
  9. Malachi 2:15 Either the man is seeking godly offspring or God seeks offspring. There is no consensus on the translation of this verse. The biggest difficulty is the uncertainty about who or what the word one in the previous sentence refers to.
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Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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