Malachi 2
2
Malachi 2
1¶ And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
2If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, said the Lord of the hosts, I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart.
3Behold, I reprehend your seed and spread the dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemnities; and ye shall be removed with it.
4And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, said the Lord of the hosts.
5My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear with which he feared me and was broken before my name.
6The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and righteousness and turned many away from iniquity.
7For the priest’s lips keep wisdom, and they seek the law at his mouth; for he is an angel of the Lord of the hosts.
8But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, said the Lord of the hosts.
9Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
10¶ Have we not all one father? has not one God created us? why do we despise each man his brother by breaking the covenant of our fathers?
11Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of the Lord by loving and marrying the daughter of a strange god.
12The Lord will cut off the man that does this, the master and the scholar out of the tabernacles of Jacob and him that offers an offering unto the Lord of the hosts.
13And once again ye shall cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, for I shall not even look at the offering any more to receive a free will offering from your hand.
14Yet ye say, Why? Because the Lord has been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously; yet she is thy companion and the wife of thy covenant.
15And did he not make one, having in himself abundance of the Spirit? And why one? That he might seek offspring of God. Therefore take heed to your spirit and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
16He that rejects her, sending her away, said the Lord God of Israel, covers the violence with his garment, said the Lord of the hosts; therefore take heed in your spirit, and do not be treacherous.
17Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, In what have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that does evil pleases the Lord, and he delights in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
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Malachi 2: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Malachi 2
2
A Warning to the Priests
1“Listen, you priests—this command is for you! 2Listen 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. 3I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. 4Then 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.
5“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. 6They 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.
7“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. 8But 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. 9“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.”
A Call to Faithfulness
10Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?
11Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the Lord’s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols. 12May the Lord cut off from the nation of Israel#2:12 Hebrew from the tents of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation. every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
13Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. 14You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.
15Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his.#2:15 Or Didn’t the one Lord make us and preserve our life and breath? or Didn’t the one Lord make her, both flesh and spirit? The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16“For I hate divorce!”#2:16a Hebrew For he hates divorcing. says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,#2:16b Hebrew to cover one’s garment with violence.” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”
17You have wearied the Lord with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.
You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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