< Malachias 1 >

1 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of his messenger. Lay [it], I pray you, to heart.
The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachias.
2 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,
I have loved you, saith the Lord: and you have said: Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau brother to Jacob, saith the Lord, and I have loved Jacob,
3 and hated Esau and laid waste his borders, and made his heritage as dwellings of the wilderness?
But have hated Esau? and I have made his mountains a wilderness, and given his inheritance to the dragons of the desert.
4 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.
But if Edom shall say: We are destroyed, but we will return and build up what hath been destroyed: thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall build up, and I will throw down: and they shall be called the borders of wickedness, and the people with whom the Lord is angry for ever.
5 And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, The Lord has been magnified upon the borders of Israel.
And your eyes shall see, and you shall say: The Lord be magnified upon the border of Israel.
6 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?
The son honoureth the father, and the servant his master: if then I be a father, where is my honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts.
7 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.
To you, O priests, that despise my name, and have said: Wherein have we despised thy name? You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say: Wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say: The table of the Lord is contemptible.
8 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.
If you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? offer it to thy prince, if he will be pleased with it, or if he will regard thy face, saith the Lord of hosts.
9 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.
And now beseech ye the face of God, that he may have mercy on you, (for by your hand hath this been done, ) if by any means he will receive your faces, saith the Lord of hosts.
10 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.
Who is there among you, that will shut the doors, and will kindle the fire on my altar gratis? I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will not receive a gift of your hand.
11 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.
For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 But you profane it, in that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and his meats set thereon are despised.
And you have profaned it in that you say: The table of the Lord is defiled: and that which is laid thereupon is contemptible with the fire that devoureth it.
13 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.
And you have said: Behold of our labour, and you puffed it away, saith the Lord of hosts, and you brought in of rapine the lame, and the sick, and brought in an offering: shall I accept it at your hands, saith the Lord?
14 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.
Cursed is the deceitful man that hath in his flock a male, and making a vow offereth in sacrifice that which is feeble to the Lord: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the Gentiles.

< Malachias 1 >