Malachi 2

1 Now, therefore, for you, is this charge, O ye priests: —

“And now this decree is for you, O priests:

2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my Name, saith Yahweh of hosts, then will I send among you the curse, and will curse your blessings, —and indeed I have cursed them, because ye are not at all laying it to heart.

If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.

3 Behold me! threatening, on your account, the seed, and I will scatter refuse upon your faces, the refuse of your festivals, —and one shall carry you away unto it;

Behold, I will rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the waste from your feasts, and you will be carried off with it.

4 So shall ye know that I sent unto you this charge, —as being my covenant with Levi, saith Yahweh of hosts.

Then you will know that I have sent you this commandment so that My covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD of Hosts.

5 My covenant, was with him, Life and Well-being, so I gave them to him—[I] as One to be revered— and he did revere me, — and, before my Name, dismayed, was he.

“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, which I gave to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

6 The deliverance of truth, was in his mouth, and, perverseness, was not found in his lips, — In well-doing and in uprightness, walked he with me, and, multitudes, did he turn from iniquity.

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 from iniquity.

7 For, the lips of a priest, should keep knowledge, and, a deliverance, should men seek at his mouth, — for, the messenger of Yahweh of hosts, he is.

For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.

8 But, ye, have departed out of the way, ye have caused multitudes to stumble at the deliverance, — ye have violated the covenant of Levi, saith Yahweh of hosts.

But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.

9 Therefore, I also, will suffer you to be despised and of no account unto all the people, —in proportion as none of you have been keeping my ways, but have had respect to persons, in giving your deliverance.

“So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not kept My ways, but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

10 Is there not, one Father, to us all? Did not, one GOD, create us? Wherefore should we deal treacherously one with another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?

Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then do we break faith with one another so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

11 Judah, hath dealt treacherously, and, an abomination, hath been wrought in Israel, and in Jerusalem, — for Judah, had profaned, the holy place of Yahweh, which he had loved, and hath taken to himself the daughter of a foreign GOD.

Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

12 May Yahweh, cut off, from the man that doeth it—him that crieth out and him that answereth, out of the tents of Jacob, — him also that bringeth near a present to Yahweh of hosts.

As for the man who does this, may the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and aware—even if he brings an offering to the LORD of Hosts.

13 And, this, a second time, will ye do, covering with tears, the altar of Yahweh, weeping and making outcry, —because he will not again turn unto the gift, and receive [it] with acceptance, at your hands?

And this is another thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and groaning, because He no longer regards your offerings or receives them gladly from your hands.

14 Yet ye say, For what cause? Because, Yahweh, hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, with whom, thou, hast dealt treacherously, though, she, was thy consort, and thy covenant wife.

Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

15 Now was it not, One, [who] made [you] who had, the residue of the spirit? What, then, of that One? He was seeking a godly seed. Therefore should ye take heed to your spirit, and, with the wife of thy youth, do not thou deal treacherously.

Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

16 For he hateth divorce, saith Yahweh, God of Israel, him also who covereth with violence his own clothing, saith Yahweh of hosts, —therefore should ye take heed to your spirit, and not deal treacherously.

“For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “He who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,” says the LORD of Hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith.

17 Ye have wearied Yahweh with your words, and yet ye say, Wherein have we been wearisome? When ye have said, Everyone who doeth wrong, is right in the eyes of Yahweh, and, in them, he hath taken delight, or, Where is the God of justice?

You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”