Jacob Loved Adonai

1 An oracle^[a]: The word of Adonai to Israel by Malachi^[b].

Despicable Sacrifices

⁶ “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. So if I am Father, where is My honor? If I am Master, where is My reverence?”—says Adonai-Tzva’ot—“you, kohanim who despise My Name!”

But you say, “How did we despise Your Name?”

⁷ “By offering defiled bread on My altar.” But you say, “How did we defile You?” When you say, “The table of Adonai is despicable.”

⁸ “When you bring a blind one as sacrifice, is it not wrong? Or when you bring a lame or sick one, is it not wrong? Offer them now to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Or will he acknowledge you favorably?” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

⁹ “So now, implore God’s favor! Then, will He be gracious to us? Since this has come from your hands, will He accept any of it from you?” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

¹⁰ “If just one of you would shut the doors, and not light My altar uselessly! I have no delight in you,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot. “Nor will I accept any offering from your hand.

¹¹ “For from sunrise to its setting^[c] My Name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to My Name with a pure grain offering, for My Name will be great among the nations,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

¹² But you are profaning it when you say, “The table of Adonai is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food—despicable!” ¹³ You also say, “It’s so tedious!”

“And you sniff at it,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot. “So you bring plunder, the lame and the sick. Then you bring them as the offering. Should I accept this from your hand?” says Adonai.

¹⁴ “Moreover, cursed is a deceiver who has in his flock a male, but makes a vow and sacrifices something blemished to my Lord. For I am a great King,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot, “and My Name shall be revered among the nations.”

Warning to the Kohanim and Levites

Covenant With Your Wife

¹⁷ You wearied Adonai with your words.

Yet you say: “How did we weary Him?”

When you say: “Everyone doing evil is good in the sight of Adonai, and He delights in them.” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.^[a]

² I also saw the holy city—the New Jerusalem—coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ^{[b] 3} I also heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,

⁵ And the One seated upon the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new!” Then He said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶ Then He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will freely give from the spring of the water of life. ^{[e] 7} The one who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. ^{[f] 8} But for the cowardly and faithless and detestable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars—their lot is in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem

⁹ Then came one of the seven angels holding the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

¹⁰ Then he carried me away in the Ruach to a great and high mountain,^[g] and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God—her radiance like a most precious stone, like a jasper, sparkling like crystal. ¹² She had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and above the gates twelve angels. On the gates were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of Bnei-Yisrael— ¹³ three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. ^{[h] 14} And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve emissaries of the Lamb.

¹⁵ The angel speaking with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls. ^{[i] 16} The city is laid out as a square—its length the same as its width. He measured the city with the rod—12,000 stadia.^[j] Its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall—144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. ¹⁸ The material of the city’s wall was jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone—the first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; ²⁰ the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, carnelian; the seventh, yellow topaz; the eighth; beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls—each of the gates was from a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

²² I saw no temple in her, for its Temple is Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. ^{[k] 24} The nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. ^{[l] 25} Its gates shall never be shut by day,^[m] for there shall be no night there! ²⁶ And they shall bring into it the glory and honor of the nations. ²⁷ And nothing unholy^[n] shall ever enter it, nor anyone doing what is detestable or false,^[o] but only those written in the Book of Life.

Praise with Singing and Dancing

Psalm 149

A Woman of Valor