Malachi 2
New American Standard Bible
Priests to Be Disciplined
2 “And now, this commandment is for you, the priests. 2 If you do (A)not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of armies, “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 taking it to heart. 3 Behold, I am going to (D)rebuke your [a]descendants, and I will (E)spread [b]dung on your faces, the [c]dung 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]so that My (G)covenant may [f]continue with Levi,” says the Lord of armies. 5 “My covenant with him was one of life and (H)peace, and I gave them to him as an object of [g]reverence; so he [h](I)revered Me and was in awe of My name. 6 [i](J)True instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked (K)with Me in peace and justice, and he (L)turned many back from wrongdoing. 7 For the lips of a priest should maintain (M)knowledge, and people should (N)seek [j]instruction from his mouth; for he is the (O)messenger of the Lord of armies. 8 But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to (P)stumble [k]by the instruction; you have (Q)ruined the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of armies. 9 “So (R)I also have made you despised and of (S)low reputation [l]in the view of all the people, since you are not keeping My ways but are showing (T)partiality in the [m]instruction.”
Sin in the Family
10 Do we not all have (U)one Father? (V)Is it not one God who has 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 committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has (Z)profaned the sanctuary of the Lord [n]which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, may the (AA)Lord eliminate from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and answers, or who (AB)presents [o]an offering to the Lord of armies.
13 And this is [p]another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He (AC)no longer gives attention to the [q]offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the (AD)wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt (AE)treacherously, though she is your marriage companion and your wife by covenant. 15 [r]But not one has (AF)done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And [s]why the one? He was seeking a (AG)godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals (AH)treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 “For [t]I hate [u](AI)divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and [v]him who covers his garment with (AJ)violence,” says the Lord of armies. “So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”
17 You have (AK)wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “(AL)Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He (AM)delights in them,” or, “(AN)Where is the God of (AO)justice?”
Footnotes
- Malachi 2:3 Lit seed
- Malachi 2:3 Or vomit
- Malachi 2:3 Or vomit
- Malachi 2:3 Lit to
- Malachi 2:4 Or to be My covenant with
- Malachi 2:4 Lit be
- Malachi 2:5 Or fear
- Malachi 2:5 Or feared
- Malachi 2:6 Or Law of truth
- Malachi 2:7 Or the Law
- Malachi 2:8 Or in the Law
- Malachi 2:9 Lit to
- Malachi 2:9 Or law
- Malachi 2:11 Or in that he has loved and married
- Malachi 2:12 Or a grain offering
- Malachi 2:13 Lit a second
- Malachi 2:13 Or grain offering
- Malachi 2:15 Or Did He not make one, although He had the remnant
- Malachi 2:15 Or what did the one do while he was seeking
- Malachi 2:16 Lit He hates
- Malachi 2:16 Lit sending away
- Malachi 2:16 Lit he covers
Malachi 2
Living Bible
2 1-2 Listen, you priests, to this warning from the Lord Almighty:
“If you don’t change your ways and give glory to my name, then I will send terrible punishment upon you, and instead of giving you blessings as I would like to, I will turn on you with curses. Indeed, I have cursed you already because you haven’t taken seriously the things that are most important to me.
3 “Take note that I will rebuke your children; I will spread on your faces the manure of these animals you offer me and throw you out like dung. 4 Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning to return to the laws I gave your father Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “The purpose of these laws was to give him life and peace, to be a means of showing his respect and awe for me by keeping them. 6 He passed on to the people all the truth he got from me. He did not lie or cheat; he walked with me, living a good and righteous life, and turned many from their lives of sin.
7 “Priests’ lips should flow with the knowledge of God so the people will learn God’s laws. The priests are the messengers of the Lord Almighty, and men should come to them for guidance. 8 But not to you! For you have left God’s paths. Your ‘guidance’ has caused many to stumble in sin. You have distorted the covenant of Levi and made it into a grotesque parody,” says the Lord Almighty. 9 “Therefore, I have made you contemptible in the eyes of all the people; for you have not obeyed me, but you let your favorites break the law without rebuke.”
10 We are children of the same father, Abraham, all created by the same God. And yet we are faithless to each other, violating the covenant of our fathers! 11 In Judah, in Israel, and in Jerusalem, there is treachery, for the men of Judah have defiled God’s holy and beloved Temple by marrying heathen women who worship idols. 12 May the Lord cut off from his covenant every last man, whether priest or layman, who has done this thing!
13 Yet you cover the altar with your tears because the Lord doesn’t pay attention to your offerings anymore, and you receive no blessing from him. 14 “Why has God abandoned us?” you cry. I’ll tell you why; it is because the Lord has seen your treachery in divorcing your wives who have been faithful to you through the years, the companions you promised to care for and keep. 15 You were united to your wife by the Lord. In God’s wise plan, when you married, the two of you became one person in his sight. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. Therefore, guard your passions! Keep faith with the wife of your youth.
16 For the Lord, the God of Israel, says he hates divorce and cruel men. Therefore, control your passions—let there be no divorcing of your wives.
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.
“Wearied him?” you ask in fake surprise. “How have we wearied him?”
By saying that evil is good, that it pleases the Lord! Or by saying that God won’t punish us—he doesn’t care.
Malachi 2
The Voice
2 And now this command is for your benefit, O priests who despise the One you serve.
God’s message to Judah through Malachi is a double entendre. On one level, God is rebuking people who commit adultery and abandon their spouses. God hates divorce because of its disastrous consequences on lives, families, and communities. The effects of broken marriages can last a lifetime, even if people fool themselves into thinking otherwise. God stands as the first and most important witness to every marriage contract, and He desires for His people to take those vows seriously. On another level, however, God is rebuking all of Israel—His bride—who has committed adultery against the Eternal One by abandoning Him to worship other gods. As chronic adulterers, God’s people don’t realize their illicit relationships with pagan goddesses and foreign governments have broken their covenant with Him and are causing them to stray from God’s requirements. They mix cultic rituals with God’s prescribed rituals, and they genuinely don’t understand why God won’t respond to their prayers, blessings, and sacrifices. Israel demonstrates how people can become insensitive to frequent sin and how that sin can affect their contemporaries and future generations. According to the prophet, naiveté is no excuse for breaking His commands.
Eternal One: 2 If you will not listen and if you will not devote yourselves to giving glory to My name, then I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will send the curse on you and will curse those blessings you give to Me on behalf of yourselves and your laypeople. In fact, I have cursed those blessings since you are refusing to dedicate yourselves to Me. 3 Look, I am rebuking your children—your seed whom you offer. I will spread dung on your faces, the dung of your festival offerings, and someone will take you away with it.[a] 4 Then you will know I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, sent this command to you as a reminder of My covenant with Levi and your responsibilities regarding it.[b] 5 My covenant with Levi was filled with life and peace, and I gave those gifts to him out of respect. He feared Me, and he was in awe of My name and all I was purported to be. 6 He spoke the law of truth, and falsehood was not found on his lips. In peace and justice he walked with Me, and he turned many from iniquity by his words and example; 7 the lips of the priest should be a gateway to knowledge, and the laypeople should seek the law from his mouth because he is the messenger of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies. 8-9 But you priests have turned from the straight and smooth way you should be guarding. You have caused many to stumble upon the law; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi! So I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, have made you hated and humiliated as you sit in that dung heap in front of all the people because you are not keeping My ways. Instead you are picking and choosing which of My laws to teach and follow.
10 Do we not all share one father? Has not one God created us all? Why do we all act deceitfully with our brothers and sisters and soil the covenant between God and our ancestors? 11 First of all, Judah has acted deceitfully, and an atrocity has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem because Judah has soiled the holy place of the Eternal One—His earthly throne which He loves—by marrying a daughter of a foreign god, by joining pagan families and worshiping pagan goddesses. 12 May the Eternal One cut off from His community among the tents of Jacob the man who does this—the one stirring, answering,[c] and presenting a grain offering to the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies. 13 And this is a second thing you do: you cover the altar of the Eternal One not with the blood of perfect sacrifices but with your own tears, weeping and groaning as if you were worshiping other gods because He does not accept the grain offering you present or receive it with delight. 14 Yet you ask, “Why won’t He accept our offerings?” It is because the Eternal One has been a witness to the way you have dealt deceitfully with the wife of your youth, although she is your companion and covenant wife, by going off with that foreign woman! 15 Has He not made you and your wife one? You belong to Him, body and spirit. And what does He seek from such a union? Godly children.[d] So guard yourselves; be true to the wife of your youth, and stop being unfaithful.
Eternal One: 16 For I, the God of Israel, hate divorce! I, the Commander of heavenly armies, despise it when people wrap themselves in violence like a garment. So guard yourselves; be true to your wife and not unfaithful.
17 Your constant blathering has exhausted the Eternal One. Yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him with our prayers?” It is because you say, “All evildoers are good in the eyes of the Eternal One, and He delights in them,” or you ask, “Where is the God of justice?”
Footnotes
- 2:3 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 2:4 Deuteronomy 33:8–11
- 2:12 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 2:15 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.