Malachias 2
1 And now, O priests, this commandment is to you.
Now you priests, this command is for you.
2 If you will not listen, and if you will not lay [it] to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord Almighty, then I will send forth the curse upon you, and I will bring a curse upon your blessing: yes, I will curse it, and I will scatter your blessing, and it shall not exist among you, because you lay not this to heart.
“If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it on your heart to give honor to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them, because you are not laying my command on your heart.
3 Behold, I turn my back upon you, and I will scatter dung upon your faces, the dung of your feasts, and I will carry you away at the same time.
See, I am about to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the dung from your festivals, and he will take you away with it.
4 And you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant might be with the sons of Levi, says the Lord Almighty.
You will know that I have sent this command to you, and that my covenant may continue to be with Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts.
5 My covenant of life and peace was with him, and I gave [it] him that he might reverently fear me, and that he might be awe-struck at my name.
“My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave them to him; I gave him fear, and he feared me, and he stood in awe of my name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked before me directing [his way] in peace, and he turned many from unrighteousness.
True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness and he turned many away from sin.
7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.
For a priest's lips should keep knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is a messenger of Yahweh of hosts.
8 But you have turned aside from the way, and caused many to fail in [following] the law: you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord Almighty.
But you have turned away from the true path. You have caused many to stumble with respect to the law. You have broken the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts.
9 And I have made you despised and cast out among all the people, because you have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
“So I also, I have made you contemptible and vile before all the people, because you have not kept my ways, but have instead shown partiality with regard to the instruction.”
10 Have you not all one father? Did not one God create you? why have you forsaken every man his brother, to profane the covenant of your fathers?
Is there not one father for us all? Has not one God created us? Why are we faithless each man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
11 Juda has been forsaken, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Juda has profaned the holy things of the Lord, which he delighted in, and has gone after other gods.
Judah has been faithless. A disgusting thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy place of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12 The Lord will utterly destroy the man that does these things, until he be even cast down from out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and from among them that offer sacrifice to the Lord Almighty.
May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, the one who is awake and the one who answers, even if he is bringing an offering to Yahweh of hosts.
13 And these things which I hated, you did: you covered with tears the altar of the Lord, and with weeping and groaning because of troubles: [is it] meet [for me] to have respect to your sacrifice, or to receive [anything] from your hands [as] welcome?
You also do this: You cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping and sighing, because he still does not turn toward the offering or accept it with favor from your hand.
14 Yet you said, Therefore? Because the Lord has borne witness between you and the wife of your youth, whom you has forsaken, and [yet] she was your partner, and the wife of your covenant.
But you say, “Why does he not?” Because Yahweh was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been faithless, even though she was your companion and your wife by covenant.
15 And did he not do well? and [there was] the residue of his spirit. But you said, What does God seek but a seed? But take you heed to your spirit, and forsake not the wife of your youth.
Did he not make them one, with a portion of his spirit? Then why did he make you one? Because he was seeking an offspring from God. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
16 But if you should hate [your wife] and put her away, says the Lord God of Israel, then ungodliness shall cover your thoughts, says the Lord Almighty: therefore take you heed to your spirit, and forsake [them] not,
“For I hate divorce,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and the one who covers his garment with violence,” says Yahweh of hosts. “So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.”
17 you that have provoked God with your words. But you said, Wherein have we provoked him? In that you say, Every one that does evil is a pleasing [object] in the sight of the Lord, and he takes pleasure in such; and where is the God of justice?
You have wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of Yahweh, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”
