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1 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
Israel Preferred to Edom
2 I have loved you, says the Lord.
But you say, “How have You loved us?”
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob; 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a desolation and left his inheritance for the jackals of the desert.
4 Whereas Edom says, “We are impoverished, but we will rebuild the ruins,” thus says the Lord of Hosts: They may build, but I will tear down. They will be called the Wicked Territory, and the people against whom the Lord has indignation forever. 5 Your eyes will see this, and you will say, “Great is the Lord, beyond the border of Israel!”
Profane Offerings
6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My fear? says the Lord of Hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name.
But you say, “How have we despised Your name?”
7 You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, “How have we defiled You?”
By saying, “The table of the Lord is contemptible.” 8 When you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? When you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now to your governor! Would he be pleased with you, or accept you? says the Lord of Hosts.
9 But now entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will He accept you favorably? says the Lord of Hosts.
10 Who is there 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 the Lord of Hosts, nor will I accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to My name, and a pure offering. For My name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of Hosts.
12 But you profane it, in that you say, “The table of the Lord is defiled, and its fruit, that is, its food is contemptible.” 13 You also say, “What a weariness it is,” and you snort at it, says the Lord of Hosts.
You bring in what is stolen, the lame, or the sick; thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand? says the Lord. 14 But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male, and vows, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great king, says the Lord of Hosts, and My name is to be feared among the nations.
Divine Warnings to the Priests
2 And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart to give honor to My name, says the Lord of Hosts, I will send a curse on you and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart.
3 I rebuke your descendants, and spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your solemn feasts, and you will be taken away with it. 4 And you will know that I have sent this command to you, that My covenant with Levi may remain, says the Lord of Hosts. 5 My covenant with him was for life and peace, and I gave them to him. With awe he feared Me, and he was reverent before My name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and with uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity.
7 For a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. 8 But you have departed from the way. You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have violated the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of Hosts. 9 So I have made you contemptible and base before all the people, because you have not kept My ways, but have shown partiality in the law.
The Covenant Profaned
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, teacher and student, yet who brings an offering to the Lord of Hosts.
13 This is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and crying out, because He no longer regards the offering, nor receives it with good will from your hand. 14 Yet you say, “Why?” It is 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 companion and your wife by covenant.
15 Did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.
16 For the Lord, the God of Israel, says that He hates divorce; for it covers one’s garment with violence, says the Lord of Hosts.
Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.
Injustice Committed
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.
Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?”
When you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
The New Heaven and the New Earth
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth.”[a] For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. 2 I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, “Look! The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them. They shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death.’[b] Neither shall there be any more sorrow nor crying nor pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making all things new.” Then He said to me, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
6 He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the spring of the water of life to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.[c] 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars shall have their portion in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.”
The New Jerusalem
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, her light like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were written: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 He who talked with me had a golden rod to measure the city and its gates and wall. 16 The city lies as a square, its length as long as its width. He measured the city with the rod: one thousand four hundred miles.[d] Its length and breadth and height are equal. 17 He then measured its wall: two hundred feet[e] by the measurement of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The wall was built of jasper and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all kinds of precious jewels. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall never be shut by day, for there shall be no night there. 26 They shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 No unclean thing shall ever enter it, nor shall anyone who commits abomination or falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Psalm 149
1 Praise the Lord!
Sing unto the Lord a new song,
and His praise in the assembly of the godly ones.
2 Let Israel rejoice in its Maker;
let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise His name with dancing;
let them sing praises unto Him with the tambourine and harp.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the meek with salvation.
5 Let the godly ones be joyful in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouths,
and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations,
and punishments on the peoples;
8 to bind their kings with chains,
and their nobles with shackles of iron;
9 to execute upon them the written judgment;
this is honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the Lord!
Epilogue: The Virtuous Wife
10 Who can find a virtuous woman?
For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts in her,
so that he will have no lack of gain.
12 She will do him good and not evil
all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
and works willingly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
she brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is yet night,
and gives food to her household,
and a portion to her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She clothes herself with strength,
and strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is good;
her candle does not go out by night.
19 She lays her hands to the spindle,
and her hands hold the distaff.
20 She stretches out her hand to the poor;
yes, she reaches forth her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes herself coverings of tapestry;
her clothing is silk and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates,
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes fine linen and sells it,
and delivers sashes to the merchant.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.