Malachi 2

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

“And now, to you [is] this charge, 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 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.

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 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.

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

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

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 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.

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

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.

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, 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.”

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? Has not our God created us? Why do we deal treacherously, Each against his brother, To defile 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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.”

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 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?”