< Malachi 2 >

1 Now, therefore, for you, is this charge, O ye priests: —
And now, ye priests, this commandment is for you.
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 ye do not hear, and if ye do not lay [it] to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, I will even send the curse among you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have already cursed them, because ye do not lay [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 seed, and spread dung upon your faces, the dung of your feasts; and they shall take you away with it.
4 So shall ye know that I sent unto you this charge, —as being my covenant with Levi, saith Yahweh of hosts.
And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith Jehovah 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 of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear; and he feared me, and trembled before 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.
The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in 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 priest's lips should keep knowledge, and at his mouth they seek the law; for he is the messenger of Jehovah 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 ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith Jehovah 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.
And I also have made you contemptible and base before all the people, because ye have not kept my ways, but have respect of persons in [administering] 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?
Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal unfaithfully every man against his brother, by profaning 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 hath dealt unfaithfully, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the sanctuary of Jehovah which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange 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.
Jehovah will cut off from the tents of Jacob the man that doeth this, him that calleth and him that answereth; and him that offereth an oblation unto Jehovah 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 further ye do this: ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that he regardeth not the oblation any more, nor receiveth [it] with satisfaction at your hand.
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 ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been a witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt unfaithfully: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy 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.
And did not one make [them]? and the remnant of the Spirit was his. And wherefore the one? He sought a seed of God. Take heed then to your spirit, and let none deal unfaithfully against the wife of his 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 putting away, saith Jehovah the God of Israel; ) and he covereth with violence his garment, saith Jehovah of hosts: take heed then to your spirit, that ye deal not unfaithfully.
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?
Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words, and ye say, Wherein have we wearied [him]? In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

< Malachi 2 >