Malachi 2

1 You priests, I will say something to warn you.

And now, O ye priests, this commandment is to you.

2 The Commander of the armies of angels says [this]: “Pay attention [to what I am saying], and [then] decide [IDM] to honor me [MTY]. If you do not do that, I will curse you, and I will curse [the things that I have given to you to] bless you. And I have already cursed them, because you have not honored [IDM] me.

If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts: I will send poverty upon you, and will curse your blessings, yea I will curse them, because you have not laid it to heart.

3 I will punish your descendants [MET], and [it will be as though] I will splatter on your faces [some of] the material inside the stomachs of the animals that are brought to be sacrificed, and you will be thrown away with the rest of that material.

Behold, I will cast the shoulder to you, and I will scatter upon your face the dung of your solemnities, and it shall take you away with it.

4 When that happens, you will know that I warned you like this, in order that my agreement with [you priests who are descendants of] Levi will continue [to be obeyed]. [That is what I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, am saying [to you].

And you shall know that I sent you this commandment, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

5 My agreement with [your ancestor] Levi was because I wanted the priests to live prosperously and peacefully. And that is what I have done for them. I required that they greatly respect me and revere [DOU] me.

My covenant was with him of life and peace: and I gave him fear: and he feared me, and he was afraid before my name.

6 They told the people that what I instructed them to do was right. And they did not tell [MTY] lies. They worked for me peacefully and loyally, and they helped many people to stop sinning.

The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace, and in equity, and turned many away from iniquity.

7 What priests say [MTY] should enable more people to know [about me], and people should go to them [MTY] to be taught [what I want them to know], because priests [should] be messengers from me, the Commander of the armies of angels.

For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.

8 But, you priests have stopped doing what I wanted you to do. What you have taught people has caused many [of them] to sin. You have rejected the agreement [that I made] with [the descendants of] Levi [long ago].

But you have departed out of the way, and have caused many to stumble at the law: you have made void the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

9 Therefore I have caused all the people to despise you, and I have caused you to be humiliated, because you have not obeyed me. When you teach [people] my commands, you do not treat all [people] equally.”

Therefore have I also made you contemptible, and base before all people, as you have not kept my ways, and have accepted persons in the law.

10 [Now I will warn you about something else]. We all certainly [RHQ] have the same [heavenly] Father. We are certainly [RHQ] [all] created by the same God. So why are [RHQ] [some of] you disobeying/despising the agreement [that Yahweh made] with our ancestors, by not doing for each other what you said that you would do?

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why then doth every one of us despise his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers?

11 [You people of] Judah have been unfaithful [to Yahweh]. You have done detestable things in Jerusalem and in [other places] in Israel. You Israeli men have defiled the temple that Yahweh loves. [You have done that by] marrying women who worship idols.

Juda hath transgressed, and abomination hath been committed in Israel, and in Jerusalem: for Juda hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange God.

12 I wish that Yahweh would expel from Israel every man who has done that, [even though] they [say that they are obeying] the Commander of the armies of angels by bringing offerings to him.

The Lord will cut off the man that hath done this, both the master, and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering to the Lord of hosts.

13 This is another thing that you do: You cover Yahweh’s altar with your tears. You wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings; but he is not pleased with them.

And this again have you done, you have covered the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and bellowing, so that I have no more a regard to sacrifice, neither do I accept any atonement at your hands.

14 You [cry out], saying, “Why does Yahweh not like our offerings?” The answer is that Yahweh heard what each of you men solemnly promised to your wives when you were young. But you men have not done what you promised your wives; you sent them away, the ones to whom you made that agreement.

And you have said: For what cause? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee, and the wife of thy youth, whom thou hast despised: yet she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant.

15 It is certainly [RHQ] Yahweh who joined you together. Your spirits and your bodies belong to him. [So] what he wants [RHQ] from you are godly children. So make sure that each of you men remain (with/loyal to) the woman that you married when you were young.

Did not one make her, and she is the residue of his spirit? And what doth one seek, but the seed of God? Keep then your spirit, and despise not the wife of thy youth.

16 Yahweh, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, says, “I hate divorce!” [So] if you men divorce your wives, you are overwhelming them by being cruel to them. So be sure that you are (not disloyal/remain united) to your wives. [That is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says.

When thou shalt hate her put her away, saith the Lord the God of Israel: but iniquity shall cover his garment, saith the Lord of hosts, keep your spirit, and despise not.

17 Yahweh [also says], “What you have said has caused me to become disgusted.” You reply, “What have we said that caused him to become disgusted?” [The answer is that you have caused him to become disgusted] by saying that Yahweh is pleased with all those who do evil things. [You have caused him to become disgusted] by [constantly] asking, “Why does God not act fairly?”

You have wearied the Lord with your words, and you said: Wherein have we wearied him? In that you say: Every one that doth evil, is good in the sight of the Lord, and such please him: or surely where is the God of judgment?