Malachi 2

Common English Bible

2 But now, this command is for you, priests:
²    If you don’t listen,
        or don’t intend to glorify my name,
says the Lord of heavenly forces,
        then I will send a curse among you.
        I will curse your blessings,
            and I mean really curse them,
            because none of you intend to do it.
³I am about to denounce your offspring;
        I will scatter feces on your faces,
        the feces of your festivals.
Then I will lift you up to me,^[a]
⁴    and you will know that I have sent this command to you
        so that my covenant with Levi can continue to exist,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
⁵My covenant with him involved life and peace, which I gave him,
        and also fear so that he honored me.
            He was in awe of my name.
⁶True Instruction was in his mouth;
        injustice wasn’t found on his lips.
He walked with me in peace and did the right thing;
        he made many turn from iniquity.
⁷The lips of the priest should guard knowledge;
        everyone^[b] should seek Instruction from his mouth,
            for he is the messenger from the Lord of heavenly forces.
⁸But you have turned from the path.
        You have caused many to stumble by your instruction.
        You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
⁹Moreover, I have made you despised and humiliated in the view of all the people,
        since none of you keep my ways
            or show respect for Instruction.

Judah’s dishonesty

¹⁰Isn’t there one father for all of us,
    one God who created us?
Why does everyone cheat each other
    to make the covenant
        of our ancestors impure?
¹¹Judah cheated—
        a detestable thing was done in Israel and Jerusalem.
    Judah made the Lord’s holy place impure, which God loved,
        and married the daughter of a foreign god.
¹²May the Lord eliminate anyone who does so from the tents of Jacob,
        anyone awaking, testifying,^[c]
        and making an offering to the Lord of heavenly forces.
¹³You should do this as well:
        cover the altar of the Lord with tears, weeping, and groaning
            because there is still no divine favor for your offering or favorable regard
            for anything from your hand.
¹⁴But you say, “Why?”
    Because the Lord testifies about you
            and the wife of your youth against whom you cheated.
    She is your partner,
            the wife of your covenant.
¹⁵Didn’t he make her^[d] the one^[e]
    and the remnant of his spirit?^[f]
    What is the one?
        The one seeking godly offspring.
You should guard your own spirit.
    Don’t cheat on the wife of your youth
¹⁶        because he hates divorce,
says the Lord God of Israel,
            and he also hates the one covering his garment with violence,^[g]
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
        Guard your own life, and don’t cheat.

Purifying judgment

¹⁷You have made the Lord tired with your words.
You say, “How have we made him tired?”
    When you say:
        “Anyone doing evil is good in the Lord’s eyes,”
        or “He delights in those doing evil,”^[h]
        or “Where is the God of justice?”