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“And so then, O priests, this command is for you: If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart[a] to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; moreover I have already cursed them because you are not taking it to heart.[b] Look! I am going to rebuke your offspring,[c] and I will scatter offal on your faces, the offal of your religious feasts, and you will be carried to it.[d]

“Then you will know that I have sent to you this command, that my covenant with Levi continues,”[e] says Yahweh of hosts. “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. This required reverence, and he revered[f] me and stood in awe before[g] my name. The instruction of truth[h] was in his mouth, and wickedness was not found on his lips. In peace and in uprightness[i] he walked with me, and he brought back many from sin.[j] For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction[k] from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts. But you, you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction;[l] you have ruined the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. “And in turn I have made you despised and humbled before all the people, inasmuch as you are not keeping[m] my way, but are favoring your own instruction.”[n]

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Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:2 Literally, “place it on your heart”
  2. Malachi 2:2 Literally “you are not placing it on your heart”
  3. Malachi 2:3 Literally “for you the offspring”
  4. Malachi 2:3 The Hebrew is difficult. The subject is indefinite, and “it” likely refers to a refuse or waste pile
  5. Malachi 2:4 Literally “be”
  6. Malachi 2:5 Or “feared”
  7. Malachi 2:5 Literally “from the face of”
  8. Malachi 2:6 Or “law of truth”
  9. Malachi 2:6 Or “rectitude,” or “fairness”
  10. Malachi 2:6 Or “iniquity”
  11. Malachi 2:7 Or “law”
  12. Malachi 2:8 Or “the law”
  13. Malachi 2:9 Or “observing”
  14. Malachi 2:9 Literally “lifting faces in the instruction/law”