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“Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring,[a] and will spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it. You will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant may be with Levi,” says Yahweh of Armies. “My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent toward me, and stood in awe of my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies. But you have turned away from the path. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Therefore I have also made you contemptible and wicked before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had respect for persons in the law.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:3 or, seed

Warning to the Priests

“Therefore, this decree(A) is for you priests: If you don’t listen, and if you don’t take it to heart(B) to honor my name,” says the Lord of Armies, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings.(C) In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart.

“Look, I am going to rebuke your descendants,(D) and I will spread animal waste[a] over your faces, the waste from your festival sacrifices,(E) and you will be taken away with it. Then you will know that I sent you this decree, so that my covenant with Levi(F) may continue,” says the Lord of Armies. “My covenant with him was one of life and peace,(G) and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.(H) True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me(I) in peace and integrity and turned many from iniquity.(J) For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should desire instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Armies.(K)

“You, on the other hand, have turned from the way.(L) You have caused many to stumble(M) by your instruction. You have violated[b] the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of Armies. “So I in turn have made you despised(N) and humiliated before all the people because you are not keeping my ways but are showing partiality in your instruction.”(O)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:3 Dung or entrails
  2. 2:8 Lit corrupted