Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices

6 “A son honors his father,o and a slave his master.p If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respectq due me?” says the Lord Almighty.r

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask,s ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

7 “By offering defiled foodt on my altar.

“But you ask,u ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the Lord’s tablev is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals,w is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleasedx with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.y

9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offeringsz from your hands, will he accepta you?”—says the Lord Almighty.

10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors,b so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleasedc with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will acceptd no offeringe from your hands. 11 My name will be greatf among the nations,g from where the sun rises to where it sets.h In every place incensei and pure offeringsj will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s tablek is defiled,’ and, ‘Its foodl is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’m and you sniff at it contemptuously,n” says the Lord Almighty.

“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices,o should I accept them from your hands?”p says the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animalq to the Lord. For I am a great king,r” says the Lord Almighty,s “and my name is to be fearedt among the nations.u

Additional Warning to the Priests

2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.v 2 If you do not listen,w and if you do not resolve to honorx my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a cursey on you, and I will curse your blessings.z Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendantsa; I will smear on your faces the dunga from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.b 4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levic may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenantd of life and peace,e and I gave them to him; this called for reverencef and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instructiong was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walkedh with me in peacei and uprightness,j and turned many from sin.k

7 “For the lips of a priestl ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messengerm of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.n 8 But you have turned from the wayo and by your teaching have caused many to stumble;p you have violated the covenantq with Levi,”r says the Lord Almighty. 9 “So I have caused you to be despiseds and humiliatedt before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partialityu in matters of the law.”v