The Book of
Malachi
1
1 A revelation, the
LORD’s
word to Israel
by Malachi.
2 “I
have loved you,”
says the LORD.
Yet you say, “How
have you loved us?”
“Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?”
says the LORD, “Yet
I loved Jacob;
3 but Esau
I hated, and
made his mountains
a desolation, and
gave his heritage
to the jackals of
the wilderness.”
4 Whereas Edom
says, “We are
beaten down, but
we will return
and build the
waste places,” the
LORD of Armies
says, “They shall
build, but I
will throw down;
and men will
call them ‘The
Wicked Land,’ even
the people against
whom the LORD shows
wrath forever.”
5 Your
eyes will see,
and you will
say, “The LORD
is great—even
beyond the border
of Israel!”
6 “A
son honors his
father, and a
servant his master.
If I am
a father, then
where is my
honor? And if
I am a master,
where is the
respect due me?” says
the LORD of
Armies to you
priests who despise
my name. “You say,
‘How have
we despised your
name?’
7 You
offer polluted
bread on my
altar. You say, ‘How
have we polluted
you?’ In that
you say, ‘The
LORD’s table
is contemptible.’
8 When
you offer the
blind for
sacrifice, isn’t that
evil? And when
you offer the
lame and sick,
isn’t that evil?
Present it now
to your governor!
Will he be
pleased with you?
Or will he
accept your
person?” says the
LORD of Armies.
9 “Now,
please entreat the
favor of God,
that he may
be gracious to
us. With this,
will he accept
any of you?” says
the LORD of
Armies.
10 “Oh
that there were
one among you
who would shut
the doors, that
you might
not kindle fire on
my altar in
vain! I have
no pleasure in
you,” says the
LORD of Armies, “neither
will I accept
an offering at
your hand.
11 For
from the rising
of the sun
even to its
going down, my
name is great
among the nations,
and in every
place incense will
be offered to
my name, and
a pure offering;
for my name
is great among
the nations,” says
the LORD of
Armies.
12 “But you
profane it when you say, ‘The
LORD’s table is
polluted, and its
fruit, even its food,
is contemptible.’
13 You say
also, ‘Behold,
what a weariness
it is!’ And
you have sniffed
at it”, says the
LORD of Armies; “and
you have brought
that which was
taken by violence,
the lame, and
the sick; thus
you bring the
offering. Should I
accept this at
your hand?” says
the LORD.
14 “But
the deceiver
is cursed who has
in his flock
a male, and
vows and
sacrifices to the
Lord
a defective thing;
for I am
a great King,” says
the LORD of
Armies, “and my
name is awesome
among the nations.”