Malachi 2:1-12

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.
⁴Then 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.
⁸But 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?
¹¹Judah 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.
¹²May 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!