Malachi 1

1 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi.

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of his messenger. Lay [it], I pray you, to heart.

2 I have loved you, says the Lord, and you have said, “In what way have you loved us?” Was not Esau brother to Jacob, says the Lord? And have I not loved Jacob,

I have loved you, says the Lord. And you said, Wherein have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,

3 but held hatred for Esau? And I have set his mountains in solitude, and his inheritance with the serpents of the desert.

and hated Esau and laid waste his borders, and made his heritage as dwellings of the wilderness?

4 But if Idumea will say, “We have been destroyed, but when we return, we will build up what has been destroyed,” thus says the Lord of hosts: They will build up, and I will destroy. And they will be called “The limits of impiety,” and, “The people with whom the Lord has been angry, even to eternity.”

Because one will say, Idumea has been overthrown, but let us return and rebuild the desolate places; thus says the Lord Almighty, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall be called The borders of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord has set himself for ever.

5 And your eyes will see. And you will say, “May the Lord be magnified beyond the limits of Israel.”

And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, The Lord has been magnified upon the borders of Israel.

6 The son honors the father, and the servant his master. If, therefore, I am Father, where is my honor? And if I am Master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. And you have said, “In what way, have we despised your name?”

A son honors [his] father, and a servant his master: if then I am a father, where is mine honor? and if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord Almighty. You the priests are they that despise my name: yet you said, Wherein have we despised your name?

7 You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say, “In what way, have we polluted you?” In that you say, “The table of the Lord has been despised.”

In that you bring to mine altar polluted bread; and you said, Wherein have you polluted it? In that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and that which was set thereon you have despised.

8 If you offer the blind for sacrifice, is this not evil? And if you offer the lame and the sick, is this not evil? Offer it to your leader, if he will be pleased with it, or if he will accept your face, says the Lord of hosts.

For if you bring a blind [victim] for sacrifices, [is it] not evil? and if you bring the lame or the sick, [is it] not evil? offer it now to your ruler, [and see] if he will receive you, if he will accept your person, says the Lord Almighty.

9 And now, beseech the face of God, so that he may have mercy on you (for by your hand has this been done) if, in any way, he might accept your faces, says the Lord of hosts.

And now entreat the face of your God, and make supplication to him. These things have been done by your hands; shall I accept you? says the Lord Almighty.

10 Who is there among you that would close the doors and enflame my altar without pay? I have no favor in you, says the Lord of hosts. And I will not accept a gift from your hand.

Because even among you the doors shall be shut, and [one] will not kindle [the fire of] mine altar for nothing, I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept a sacrifice at your hands.

11 For, from the rising of the sun even to its setting, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place, a clean oblation is being sacrificed and offered to my name. For my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord of hosts.

For from the rising of the sun even to the going down [thereof] my name has been glorified among the Gentiles; and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty.

12 And you have polluted it, in that you say, “The table of the Lord has been contaminated; and that which is placed upon it is contemptible, compared with the fire that devours it.”

But you profane it, in that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and his meats set thereon are despised.

13 And you have said, “Behold our labor,” and you have exhaled it away, says the Lord of hosts. And you brought in by plunder the lame, and the sick, and brought it in as a gift. How can I receive this from your hand, says the Lord?

And you said, These [services] are troublesome: therefore I have utterly rejected them with scorn, says the Lord Almighty: and you brought in torn victims, and lame, and sick: if then you should bring an offering, shall I accept them at your hands? says the Lord Almighty.

14 Cursed is the deceitful, who holds in his flock a male, and, when making a vow, offers in sacrifice that which is feeble to the Lord. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the Gentiles.

And cursed [is the man] who had the power, and possessed a male in his flock, and whose vow is upon him, and who sacrifices a corrupt thing to the Lord: for I am a great King, says the Lord Almighty, and my name is glorious among the nations.