Malachi 2

1 “And now, to you [is] this charge, O priests,

Now this command is for you priests!

2 If you do not listen, and if you do not lay [it] to heart, To give glory to My Name,” said YHWH of Hosts, “I have sent the curse against you, And I have cursed your blessings, Indeed, I have also cursed it, Because you are not laying [it] to heart.

If you will not listen and if you will not take it to heart to honor me, says the Lord Almighty, then I will place a curse on you and I will curse your blessings—in fact I have already cursed them because you haven't taken what I said to heart.

3 Behold, I am pushing away the seed before you, And have scattered dung before your faces, Dung of your festivals, And it has taken you away with it.

Watch out! I am going to penalize your descendants. I will spread manure on your faces from the animals you sacrifice, the manure from your religious festivals, and you will be thrown out with it.

4 And you have known that I have sent this charge to you, For My covenant being with Levi,” said YHWH of Hosts.

Then you will know that I sent you this command so that my agreement with Levi can continue, says the Lord Almighty.

5 “My covenant has been of life and of peace with him, And I make them a fear to him, and he fears Me, And because of My Name he has been frightened.

My agreement with him was one of life and peace, which I gave to him, and respect—he respected me. He stood in awe of me.

6 The law of truth has been in his mouth, And perverseness has not been found in his lips, In peace and in uprightness he walked with Me, And he brought back many from iniquity.

He taught the people the truth; nothing in his teaching was false. He walked with me in peace and did what was right, and he helped many to turn way from sin.

7 For the lips of a priest preserve knowledge, And they seek law from his mouth, For he [is] a messenger of YHWH of Hosts.

A priest should explain the truth about God, they should go to him to be taught, for he is the Lord Almighty's messenger.

8 And you, you have turned from the way, You have caused many to stumble in the Law, You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” said YHWH of Hosts.

But you have turned from my way. You have made many people to fall into sin. By your teaching you have broken the agreement with Levi, says the Lord Almighty.

9 “And I also, I have made you despised and low before all the people, Because you are not keeping My ways, And are accepting by superficial things in the Law.”

So I have destroyed any respect you had, and humiliated you before all the people. For you have not kept my ways, and have shown favoritism in what you teach.

10 Have we not all one Father? Has not our God created us? Why do we deal treacherously, Each against his brother, To defile the covenant of our fathers?

Don't we all have one Father? Didn't one God create us? So why are we unfaithful to each other, violating the agreement made by our forefathers?

11 Judah has dealt treacherously, And abomination has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has defiled the holy thing of YHWH that He has loved, And has married the daughter of a strange god.

The people of Judah have been unfaithful and have committed a disgusting sin in Israel and Jerusalem. For the men of Judah have defiled the Lord's Temple (which he loves) by marrying women who worship idols.

12 YHWH cuts off the man who does it, Tempter and tempted—from the tents of Jacob, Even he who is bringing a present near to YHWH of Hosts.

May the Lord expel the family of any man who does this from the nation of Israel! May there be no one left to bring an offering to the Lord Almighty!

13 And you do this a second time, Covering the altar of YHWH with tears, With weeping and groaning, Because there is no more turning to the present, Or receiving of a pleasing thing from your hand.

Something else you do is to pour out your tears on the Lord's altar weeping and moaning because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or doesn't want to accept them.

14 And you have said, “Why?” Because YHWH has testified between you And the wife of your youth, That you have dealt treacherously against her, And she [is] your companion, and your covenant-wife.

“Why not?” you ask. Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife exchanged when you were young. You were unfaithful to her, your wife and partner joined to you by marriage contract.

15 And He did not make one [only], And a remnant of the Spirit [is] for him. And what [is] the one [alone]! He is seeking a godly seed. And you have been watchful over your spirit, And with the wife of your youth, None deal treacherously.

Did he not make you one, and give some of his Spirit to you? And what does he want? Children of God. So watch what you do, and don't be unfaithful to the wife you married when you were young.

16 “For He hates sending away,” said YHWH, God of Israel, “And he [who] has covered violence with his clothing,” said YHWH of Hosts, “And you have been watchful over your spirit, And you do not deal treacherously.”

For I hate divorce, says the Lord God of Israel, for it's a violent attack on the wife, says the Lord Almighty. So watch what you do, and don't be unfaithful.

17 You have wearied YHWH with your words, And you have said, “In what have we wearied Him?” In your saying, “Every evildoer [is] good in the eyes of YHWH, And He is delighting in them,” Or, “Where [is] the God of judgment?”

You have worn the Lord out with your words. “How have we worn him out?” you ask. By saying everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he is happy with them, or by asking, where is the Lord's justice?