Malachi 1:6-14
New English Translation
The Sacrilege of Priestly Service
6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects[a] his master. If I am your[b] father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord of Heaven’s Armies asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’ 7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table[c] of the Lord as if it is of no importance. 8 For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick,[d] is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them[e] to your governor! Will he be pleased with you[f] or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “But now plead for God’s favor[g] that he might be gracious to us.”[h] “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors,[i] so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you. 11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,”[j] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings[k] despicable. 13 You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?”[l] asks the Lord. 14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,”[m] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Malachi 1:6 tn The verb “respects” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. It is understood by ellipsis (see “honors” in the preceding line).
- Malachi 1:6 tn The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification (also a second time before “master” later in this verse).
- Malachi 1:7 sn The word table, here a synonym for “altar,” has overtones of covenant imagery in which a feast shared by the covenant partners was an important element (see Exod 24:11). It also draws attention to the analogy of sitting down at a common meal with the governor (v. 8).
- Malachi 1:8 sn Offerings of animals that were lame or sick were strictly forbidden by the Mosaic law (see Deut 15:21).
- Malachi 1:8 tn Heb “it” (so NAB, NASB). Contemporary English more naturally uses a plural pronoun to agree with “the lame and sick” in the previous question (cf. NIV, NCV).
- Malachi 1:8 tc The LXX and Vulgate read “with it” (which in Hebrew would be הֲיִרְצֵהוּ, hayirtsehu, a reading followed by NAB) rather than “with you” of the MT (הֲיִרְצְךָ, hayirtsekha). The MT (followed here by most English versions) is to be preferred because of the parallel with the following phrase פָנֶיךָ (fanekha, “receive you,” which the present translation renders as “show you favor”).
- Malachi 1:9 tn Heb “seek the face of God.”
- Malachi 1:9 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).
- Malachi 1:10 sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.
- Malachi 1:11 sn My name will be great among the nations. In what is clearly a strongly ironic shift of thought, the Lord contrasts the unbelief and virtual paganism of the postexilic community with the conversion and obedience of the nations that will one day worship the God of Israel.
- Malachi 1:12 tn Heb “fruit.” The following word “food” in the Hebrew text (אָכְלוֹ, ʾokhlo) appears to be an explanatory gloss to clarify the meaning of the rare word נִיב (niv, “fruit”; see Isa 57:19 Qere; נוֹב, nov, “fruit,” in Kethib). Cf. ASV “the fruit thereof, even its food.” In this cultic context the reference is to the offerings on the altar.
- Malachi 1:13 tn Heb “from your hand,” a metonymy of part (the hand) for whole (the person).
- Malachi 1:14 sn The epithet great king was used to describe the Hittite rulers on their covenant documents and so, in the covenant ideology of Malachi, is an apt description of the Lord.
Malachi 1:6-14
World English Bible
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Armies to you, priests, who despise my name. You say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is contemptible.’ 8 When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?” says Yahweh of Armies.
9 “Now, please entreat the favor of God,[a] that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says Yahweh of Armies.
10 “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the nations,” says Yahweh of Armies. 12 “But you profane it, in that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.’ 13 You say also, ‘Behold,[b] what a weariness it is!’ and you have sniffed at it”, says Yahweh of Armies; “and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?” says Yahweh.
14 “But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord[c] a defective thing; for I am a great King,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
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