Malachi 2

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

And now, O priests, this commandment is to you.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 aside from the way, and caused many to fail in [following] the law: you have corrupted the covenant of 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.”

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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,

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 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?