< Malachi 2 >
1 Now, therefore, for you, is this charge, O ye priests: —
And now to you, O ye priests, is this commandment:
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 will not hearken, If ye will not lay it to heart, To give glory to my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings; Yea, I have cursed them already, 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 I will scatter dung in your faces, The dung of your solemn feasts, And ye shall be carried to 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 to you this commandment, That my covenant may remain 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 was with him for life and peace, Which I gave to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, And was afraid 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 truth and equity, And turned many away 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 the priest should keep knowledge, And men should seek the law from his mouth; 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 have departed from the way, Ye have caused many to stumble at the law, And ye have made void the covenant with 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.
Therefore will I also make you Despicable and base before all the people; According as ye have not kept my ways. But have had respect to persons 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? Hath not one God created us? Why should we deal treacherously one against another, And profane the covenant made with 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 treacherously, And an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah hath profaned the holy people of Jehovah, which he loveth, 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 the man that doeth this, Him that waketh and him that answereth, from the tents of Jacob, And him that bringeth an offering to 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 this also ye do: Ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, With weeping and with groans, So that he no more hath regard to the offering, Nor receiveth it with good-will 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.
Yet ye say, “Wherefore?” It is because Jehovah has been a witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, Against whom thou hast dealt unfaithfully, Although she was thy companion and thy covenanted 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.
But did not He make one only? And yet had he a residue of the spirit; And wherefore one? He sought a godly race. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And be not unfaithful to the wife of thy 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 him that putteth away, Saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, And him that covereth his garment with violence, Saith Jehovah of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and be not unfaithful.
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; Yet ye say, “Wherein have we wearied him?” In that ye say, “Every one of them that do evil Is good in the sight of Jehovah, And in them he hath delight”; Or, “Where is the God of judgment?”