Add parallel Print Page Options

Ang mga di banal na saserdote ay tinutulan.

At ngayon, (A)Oh kayong mga saserdote, ang utos na ito'y sa inyo.

Kung hindi ninyo didinggin, at kung hindi ninyo ilalagak sa inyong puso upang bigyang kaluwalhatian ang aking pangalan, sabi ng Panginoon ng mga hukbo, (B)magpapasapit nga ako ng sumpa sa inyo, at aking susumpain ang (C)inyong kapalaran; oo, akin na silang sinumpa, sapagka't hindi ninyo inilagak sa inyong puso.

Narito, aking sisirain ang inyong binhi, at (D)magsasabog ako ng dumi sa harap ng inyong mga mukha, sa makatuwid baga'y (E)ng dumi ng inyong mga kapistahan; at kayo'y pawang (F)ilalabas na kasama niyaon.

At inyong malalaman na aking ipinasugo ang utos na ito sa inyo, upang ang (G)aking tipan kay Levi ay manatili, sabi ng Panginoon ng mga hukbo.

(H)Ang aking tipan ay buhay at kapayapaan sa kaniya; at aking mga ibinigay sa kaniya upang siya'y matakot; at siya'y natakot sa akin, at siya'y nagpakababa sa aking pangalan.

Ang kautusan (I)tungkol sa katotohanan ay nasa kaniyang bibig, at ang kalikuan ay hindi nasumpungan sa kaniyang mga labi: siya'y lumakad na kasama ko sa kapayapaan at katuwiran, at inilayo sa kasamaan ang marami.

Sapagka't (J)ang mga labi ng saserdote ay dapat mangagingat ng kaalaman, at kanilang marapat hanapin ang kautusan sa kaniyang bibig; (K)sapagka't siya ang sugo ng Panginoon ng mga hukbo.

Nguni't kayo'y nagsilihis sa daan; inyong itinisod ang marami sa kautusan; (L)inyong sinira ang tipan ni Levi, sabi ng Panginoon ng mga hukbo.

Kaya't kayo'y ginawa (M)ko namang hamak at pinakamababa sa harap ng buong bayan, ayon sa hindi ninyo pagkaingat ng aking mga daan, kundi tumangi kayo ng mga pagkatao sa kautusan.

10 Wala baga tayong (N)lahat na isang ama? (O)hindi baga isang Dios ang lumalang sa atin? bakit tayo nagsisigawa ng paglililo bawa't isa laban sa kaniyang kapatid, na nilalapastangan ang tipan ng ating mga magulang?

11 Ang Juda'y gumawa ng paglililo, at ang kasuklamsuklam ay nagawa (P)sa Israel at sa Jerusalem; sapagka't nilapastangan ng Juda ang santuario ng Panginoon, na kaniyang iniibig, (Q)at nagasawa sa (R)anak na babae ng ibang dios.

12 Ihihiwalay ng Panginoon ang taong gumawa nito, ang gumigising at ang sumasagot, mula sa mga tolda ng Jacob, at ang naghahandog ng handog sa Panginoon ng mga hukbo.

13 At ito'y muli ninyong ginagawa: inyong tinatakpan ang dambana ng Panginoon ng mga luha, ng tangis, at ng buntong hininga, na anopa't hindi na niya nililingap ang handog ni tinatanggap man sa inyong kamay na may lugod.

14 Gayon ma'y inyong sinasabi, Bakit? Sapagka't ang Panginoon ay naging saksi sa iyo at sa (S)asawa ng iyong kabataan, na ginawan mo ng paglililo, bagaman siya'y iyong kasama, at siyang asawa ng iyong tipan.

15 At (T)di baga siya'y gumawa ng isa, bagaman siya'y may labis na Espiritu? At bakit isa? Kaniyang hinanap ang lahing maka Dios. Kaya't ingatan ninyo ang inyong kalooban, at huwag nang manglilo laban sa asawa ng kaniyang kabataan.

16 Sapagka't aking kinapopootan ang paghihiwalay, sabi ng Panginoon, ng Dios ng Israel, at siya na nagtatakip ng kaniyang damit na may karahasan, sabi ng Panginoon ng mga hukbo: kaya't ingatan ninyo ang inyong kalooban na huwag kayong magsalita na may paglililo.

17 (U)Inyong niyamot ang Panginoon ng inyong mga salita. Gayon ma'y inyong sinasabi, Sa ano namin niyamot siya? Na inyong sinasabi, Bawa't gumagawa ng kasamaan ay mabuti sa paningin ng Panginoon, at kaniyang kinalulugdan sila; o (V)saan nandoon ang Dios ng kahatulan.

The Lord Warns the Priests

“Now I am giving this warning to you priests. Listen to it. Honor me with all your heart,” says the Lord who rules over all. “If you do not, I will send a curse on you. I will turn your blessings into curses. In fact, I have already done that because you have not honored me with all your heart.

“Because of what you have done, I will punish your children. I will smear the waste from your sacrifices on your faces. And you will be carried off to the dump along with it. You will know that I have given you this warning. I have warned you so that my covenant with Levi will continue,” says the Lord who rules over all. “My covenant promised Levi life and peace. So I gave them to him. I required him to respect me. And he had great respect for my name. True teaching came from his mouth. Nothing but the truth came from his lips. He walked with me in peace. He did what was right. He turned many people away from their sins.

“The lips of a priest should guard knowledge. After all, he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all. And people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned away from the right path. Your teaching has caused many people to trip and fall. You have broken my covenant with Levi,” says the Lord who rules over all. “So I have caused all the people to hate you. They have lost respect for you. You have not done what I told you to do. Instead, you have favored one person over another in matters of the law.”

Breaking the Covenant Through Divorce

10 People of Judah, all of us have one Father. One God created us. So why do we break the covenant the Lord made with our people of long ago? We do this by being unfaithful to one another.

11 And Judah has been unfaithful. A hateful thing has been done in Israel and Jerusalem. The Lord loves his temple. But Judah has made it impure. Their men have married women who worship other gods. 12 May the Lord punish the man who marries a woman like this. It doesn’t matter who that man is. May the Lord who rules over all remove him from the tents of Jacob’s people. May the Lord remove him even if he brings an offering to him.

13 Here’s something else you do. You flood the Lord’s altar with your tears. You weep and cry because your offerings don’t please him anymore. He doesn’t accept them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It’s because the Lord is holding you responsible. He watches how you treat the wife you married when you were young. You have been unfaithful to her. You did it even though she’s your partner. You promised to stay married to her. And the Lord was a witness to it.

15 Hasn’t the one God made the two of you one also? Both of you belong to him in body and spirit. And why has the one God made you one? Because he wants his children to be like him. So be careful. Don’t be unfaithful to the wife you married when you were young.

16 “Suppose a man hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord God of Israel. “Then he is harming the one he should protect,” says the Lord who rules over all.

So be careful. And don’t be unfaithful.

Breaking the Covenant by Treating Others Unfairly

17 You have worn out the Lord by what you keep saying.

“How have we worn him out?” you ask.

You have done it by saying, “All those who do evil things are good in the Lord’s sight. And he is pleased with them.” Or you ask, “Is God really fair?”

Priests to Be Disciplined

“Now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings [on the people]. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed, and I will spread the refuse on your faces, the refuse from the festival offerings; and you will be taken away with it [in disgrace]. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I have sent this [new] commandment to you (priests), that My covenant may continue with Levi [the priestly tribe],” says the Lord of hosts. “My covenant with Levi was [one of] life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he [and the priests] feared Me and stood in reverent awe of My name. True instruction was in Levi’s mouth and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from wickedness. For the lips of the priest should guard and preserve knowledge [of My law], and the people should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But as for you [priests], you have turned from the way and you have caused many to stumble by your instruction [in the law]. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. “So I have also made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality [to people] in [your administration of] the law.”

Sin in the Family

10 Do we not all have one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers [with God]? 11 Judah has been treacherous (disloyal), and an repulsive act has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.(A) 12 As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob to the last man those who do this [evil thing], awake and aware, even the one who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts.

13 This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with [your own] weeping and sighing, because the Lord no longer regards your offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why [does He reject it]?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously. Yet she is your marriage companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your vows]. 15 But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 “For I hate [a]divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong and violence,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore keep watch on your spirit, so that you do not deal treacherously [with your wife].”

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or [by asking], “Where is the God of justice?”

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:16 I.e. unwarranted divorce. Conditions for divorce are outlined. See Deut 24:1-4; Ezra 10:10-19; Matt 5:31, 32; 19:3-12; 1 Cor 7:10-16.