“I have (A)loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was Esau not Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I (B)have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have (C)made his mountains a desolation and given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.” Though Edom says, “We have been (D)beaten down, but we will [a](E)return and build up the ruins”; this is what the Lord of armies says: “They may (F)build, but I will tear down; and people will call them the [b]territory of wickedness, and the people [c]with whom the Lord is indignant (G)forever.” And your eyes will see this, and you will say, “(H)The Lord [d]be exalted beyond the [e]border of Israel!”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 1:4 Or rebuild the ruins
  2. Malachi 1:4 Lit border of wickedness
  3. Malachi 1:4 Or whom the Lord has cursed
  4. Malachi 1:5 Or will be great
  5. Malachi 1:5 Or territory

The Lord’s Love for Israel

“I have always loved you,” says the Lord.

But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”

And the Lord replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.”

Esau’s descendants in Edom may say, “We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins.”

But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies replies, “They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.’ When you see the destruction for yourselves, you will say, ‘Truly, the Lord’s greatness reaches far beyond Israel’s borders!’”

Read full chapter