Malachi 2

1 Now you priests, this command is for you.

“And now, to you [is] this charge, O priests,

2 “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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

“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 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.

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 a priest's lips should keep knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is a messenger of Yahweh of hosts.

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 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.

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 “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.”

“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 for us all? Has not one God created us? Why are we faithless each man against his brother, 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.”

“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 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?”

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?”