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A Warning to the Priests

“Listen, you priests—this command is for you! Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart. I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.

“The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.”

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God’s Third Complaint: Against His Priests—Failing to Honor Him

Now this commandment is for you priests: “If you don’t listen, and if you don’t choose[a] to give honor to my name,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, “then I’ll curse both you and your blessings.[b] I’ve even cursed them[c] already, because none of you are taking it to heart. Look! I’m rebuking your descendants because of you, and I’ll spread waste[d] on your faces, the waste of your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.

“You will know that I sent this commandment to you in order to continue my covenant with Levi,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. “My covenant with him was for life and peace, and I gave the commandments[e] to him so he would fear me. He did fear me as he stood in my presence.[f] True teachings were in his mouth, and falsehood was not found on his lips. He walked with me peacefully and righteously, and he turned many from sin. For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he’s the messenger of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.

“But you priests[g] turned aside from the way, and by your teaching you caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. “So I also made you despised, humiliating you before all of the people, because you aren’t following my ways and are showing partiality when you teach.”

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Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:2 Lit. don’t set your hearts
  2. Malachi 2:2 Lit. I’ll send on you the curse and I’ll curse your blessings
  3. Malachi 2:2 Lit. it
  4. Malachi 2:3 I.e. the parts of the sacrificial animal that were discarded after the offering had been presented.
  5. Malachi 2:5 Lit. them
  6. Malachi 2:5 Lit. in the presence of my name
  7. Malachi 2:8 The Heb. lacks priests