Malachi 1-4

English Standard Version

1 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.^[a]

The Lord's Love for Israel

^2 (A)“I have loved you,” says the Lord. ^(B)But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau ^(C)Jacob's brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet ^(D)I have loved Jacob ³ but Esau I have hated. ^(E)I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” ⁴ If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’” ^5 (F)Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”

The Priests' Polluted Offerings

^6 (G)“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am ^(H)a father, where is my honor? And if I am ^(I)a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. ^(J)But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ ^7 (K)By offering polluted food upon my altar. ^(L)But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that ^(M)the Lord's table may be despised. ^8 (N)When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts. ⁹ And now ^(O)entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, ^(P)will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. ^10 (Q)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 the Lord of hosts, ^(R)and I will not accept an offering from your hand. ¹¹ For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name ^(S)will be^[b] great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name ^(T)will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. ¹² But you profane it when you say that ^(U)the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. ¹³ But you say, ^(V)‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. ^(W)You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. ¹⁴ Cursed be the cheat who has ^(X)a male in his flock, and ^(Y)vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For ^(Z)I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name ^(AA)will be feared among the nations.

The Lord Rebukes the Priests

2 “And now, ^(AB)O priests, ^(AC)this command is for you. ^2 (AD)If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send ^(AE)the curse upon you and I will curse ^(AF)your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. ³ Behold, ^(AG)I will rebuke your offspring,^[c] and ^(AH)spread dung on your faces, the ^(AI)dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.^{[d] 4} So shall you know that I have sent ^(AJ)this command to you, that ^(AK)my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. ⁵ My covenant with him was one of life and ^(AL)peace, and I gave them to him. ^(AM)It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. ^6 (AN)True instruction^[e] was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he ^(AO)turned many from iniquity. ⁷ For ^(AP)the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people^[f] should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. ⁸ But you have turned aside from the way. ^(AQ)You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted ^(AR)the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, ⁹ and so ^(AS)I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but ^(AT)show partiality in your instruction.”

Judah Profaned the Covenant

¹⁰ Have we not all ^(AU)one Father? Has not ^(AV)one God created us? Why then are we ^(AW)faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹ Judah has been ^(AX)faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For ^(AY)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^[g] of the man who does this, who ^(AZ)brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³ And this second thing you do. ^(BA)You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ^14 (BB)But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ^(BC)was witness between you and the wife of your youth, ^(BD)to whom ^(BE)you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ^15 (BF)Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?^[h] And what was the one God^[i] seeking?^{[j] (BG)}Godly offspring. So guard yourselves^[k] in your spirit, and let none of you be ^(BH)faithless to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ “For ^(BI)the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,^[l] says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers^[m] his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and ^(BJ)do not be faithless.”

The Messenger of the Lord

^17 (BK)You have wearied the Lord with your words. ^(BL)But you say, “How have we wearied him?” ^(BM)By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, ^(BN)“Where is the God of justice?”

3 ^(BO)“Behold, I send ^(BP)my messenger, and ^(BQ)he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^(BR)whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^(BS)the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But ^(BT)who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For ^(BU)he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ³ He will sit ^(BV)as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring ^(BW)offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^{[n] 4 (BX)}Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be ^(BY)a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those ^(BZ)who oppress the hired worker in his wages, ^(CA)the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Robbing God

⁶ “For ^(CB)I the Lord do not change; ^(CC)therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ^7 (CD)From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. ^(CE)Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^(CF)But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. ^(CG)But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ ^(CH)In your tithes and contributions. ^9 (CI)You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ^10 (CJ)Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby ^(CK)put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open ^(CL)the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹ I will rebuke ^(CM)the devourer^[o] for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. ¹² Then ^(CN)all nations will call you blessed, for you will be ^(CO)a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

^13 (CP)“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. ^(CQ)But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ^(CR)‘It is vain to serve God. ^(CS)What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? ¹⁵ And now we call ^(CT)the arrogant blessed. ^(CU)Evildoers not only prosper but ^(CV)they put God to the test and they escape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord ^(CW)spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and ^(CX)a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ¹⁷ “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, ^(CY)in the day when I make up ^(CZ)my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸ Then once more you shall ^(DA)see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

The Great Day of the Lord

4 ^[p] “For behold, ^(DB)the day is coming, ^(DC)burning like an oven, when ^(DD)all the arrogant and ^(DE)all evildoers ^(DF)will be stubble. The day that is coming ^(DG)shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ² But for you ^(DH)who fear my name, ^(DI)the sun ^(DJ)of righteousness shall rise ^(DK)with healing in its wings. You shall go out ^(DL)leaping like calves from the stall. ³ And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, ^(DM)on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

^4 (DN)“Remember ^(DO)the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules^[q] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

^5 (DP)“Behold, I will send you ^(DQ)Elijah the prophet ^(DR)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶ And he will ^(DS)turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^(DT)strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”^[r]