Malachi 2

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

You priests, I will say something to warn you.

2 If ye hearken not, and if ye lay [it] not to heart, To give honour to My name, said Jehovah of Hosts, I have sent against you the curse, And I have cursed your blessings, Yea, I have also cursed it, Because ye are not laying [it] to heart.

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.

3 Lo, I am pushing away before you the seed, And have scattered dung before your faces, Dung of your festivals, And it hath taken you away with it.

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.

4 And ye have known that I have sent unto you this charge, For My covenant being with Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

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].

5 My covenant hath been with him of life and of peace, And I make them to him a fear, and he doth fear Me, And because of My name he hath been affrighted.

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.

6 The law of truth hath been in his mouth, And perverseness hath not been found in his lips, In peace and in uprightness he walked with Me, And many he brought back from iniquity.

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.

7 For the lips of a priest preserve knowledge, And law they do seek from his mouth, For a messenger of Jehovah of Hosts he [is].

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.

8 And ye, ye have turned from the way, Ye have caused many to stumble in the law, Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

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].

9 And I also, I have made you despised and low before all the people, Because ye are not keeping My ways, And are accepting persons in the law.

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.”

10 Have we not all one father? Hath not our God prepared us? Wherefore do we deal treacherously, Each against his brother, To pollute the covenant of our fathers?

[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?

11 Dealt treacherously hath Judah, And abomination hath been done in Israel, and in Jerusalem, For polluted hath Judah the holy thing of Jehovah, That He hath loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

[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.

12 Cut off doth Jehovah the man who doth it, Tempter and tempted — from the tents of Jacob, Even he who is bringing nigh a present to Jehovah of Hosts.

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.

13 And this a second time ye do, Covering with tears the altar of Jehovah, With weeping and groaning, Because there is no more turning unto the present, Or receiving of a pleasing thing from your hand.

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.

14 And ye have said, 'Wherefore?' Because Jehovah hath testified between thee And the wife of thy youth, That thou hast dealt treacherously against her, And she thy companion, and thy covenant-wife.

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.

15 And He did not make one [only], And He hath the remnant of the Spirit. And what [is] the one [alone]! He is seeking a godly seed. And ye have been watchful over your spirit, And with the wife of thy youth, None doth deal treacherously.

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.

16 For [I] hate sending away, said Jehovah, God of Israel, And He [who] hath covered violence with his clothing, said Jehovah of Hosts, And ye have been watchful over your spirit, And ye do not deal treacherously.

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.

17 Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words, And ye have said: 'In what have we wearied Him?' In your saying: 'Every evil-doer [is] good in the eyes of Jehovah, And in them He is delighting,' Or, 'Where [is] the God of judgment?'

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?”