Malachi 1

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

The burden of the word of Jehovah to Israel by Malachi.

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 Jehovah. Yet ye say, How have thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, says Jehovah. 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.

but Esau I regarded inferior, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals 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.”

Whereas Edom says, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places, thus says Jehovah of hosts: They shall build, but I will throw down, and men shall call them the border of wickedness, and the people against whom Jehovah has indignation forever.

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 ye shall say, Jehovah be magnified beyond the border 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 my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says Jehovah of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. And ye say, How have we despised thy 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.”

Ye offer polluted bread upon my altar. And ye say, How have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.

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.

And when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, ye say, It is no evil! and when ye offer the lame and sick, It is no evil! Present it now to thy governor. Will he be pleased with thee, or will he accept thy person? says Jehovah of hosts.

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.

Ye say, And now, I pray you, entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us; this has been by your means. Will he accept any of your persons? says Jehovah of hosts.

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.

Oh that there was among you who would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says Jehovah of hosts, nor will I accept an offering at your hand.

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 of the same, my name is great 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 Jehovah of hosts.

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 ye profane it, in that ye say, The table of Jehovah is polluted. And the fruit of it, even its food, is contemptible.

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?

Ye also say, Behold, what a weariness it is! And ye have sniffed at it, says Jehovah of hosts. And ye have brought that which was taken by violence, and the lame, and the sick. Thus ye bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand? says Jehovah.

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.

But cursed be the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing. For I am a great King, says Jehovah of hosts, and my name is feared among the Gentiles.