Malachi 2

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

Now you priests, this command 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 you will not listen, and if you will not lay it on your heart to give honor to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them, because you are not laying my command on your 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;

See, I am about to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the dung from your festivals, and he will 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.

You will know that I have sent this command to you, and that my covenant may continue to be with Levi,” says Yahweh 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 life and peace, and I gave them to him; I gave him fear, and he feared me, and he 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 away from sin.

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 a priest's lips should keep knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is a messenger of Yahweh 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 turned away from the true path. You have caused many to stumble with respect to the law. You have broken the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh 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 also, I have made you contemptible and vile before all the people, because you have not kept my ways, but have instead shown partiality with regard to the instruction.”

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?

Is there not one father for us all? Has not one God created us? Why are we faithless each man against his brother, 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 has been faithless. A disgusting thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy place of Yahweh which he loves, and has married 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.

May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, the one who is awake and the one who answers, even if he is bringing an offering to Yahweh 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?

You also do this: You cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping and sighing, because he still does not turn toward the offering or accept it with favor 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.

But you say, “Why does he not?” Because Yahweh was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been faithless, even though she was 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.

Did he not make them one, with a portion of his spirit? Then why did he make you one? Because he was seeking an offspring from God. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful to 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 Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and the one who covers his garment with violence,” says Yahweh of hosts. “So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.”

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 Yahweh with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of Yahweh, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”