Corrupt Priests

2 “And now, O apriests, this commandment is for you.

2 bIf you will not hear,

And if you will not take it to heart,

To give glory to My name,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“I will send a curse upon you,

And I will curse your blessings.

Yes, I have cursed them calready,

Because you do not take it to heart.

3 “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants

And spread drefuse on your faces,

The refuse of your solemn feasts;

And one will etake you away 1with it.

4 Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you,

That My covenant with Levi may continue,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

5 “My fcovenant was with him, one of life and peace,

And I gave them to him gthat he might fear Me;

So he feared Me

And was reverent before My name.

6 hThe 2law of truth was in his mouth,

And 3injustice was not found on his lips.

He walked with Me in peace and equity,

And iturned many away from iniquity.

7 “For jthe lips of a priest should keep knowledge,

And people should seek the law from his mouth;

kFor he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

8 But you have departed from the way;

You lhave caused many to stumble at the law.

mYou have corrupted the covenant of Levi,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

9 “Therefore nI also have made you contemptible and base

Before all the people,

Because you have not kept My ways

But have shown opartiality in the law.”

Treachery of Infidelity

10 pHave we not all one Father?

qHas not one God created us?

Why do we deal treacherously with one another

By profaning the covenant of the fathers?

11 Judah has dealt treacherously,

And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,

For Judah has rprofaned

The Lord’s holy institution which He loves:

He has married the daughter of a foreign god.

12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob

The man who does this, being 4awake and aware,

Yet swho brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

13 And this is the second thing you do:

You cover the altar of the Lord with tears,

With weeping and crying;

So He does not regard the offering anymore,

Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.

14 Yet you say, “For what reason?”

Because the Lord has been witness

Between you and tthe wife of your youth,

With whom you have dealt treacherously;

uYet she is your companion

And your wife by covenant.

15 But vdid He not make them one,

Having a remnant of the Spirit?

And why one?

He seeks wgodly offspring.

“Therefore take heed to your spirit,

And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

16 “For xthe Lord God of Israel says

That He hates divorce,

For it covers one’s garment with violence,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

Therefore take heed to your spirit,

That you do not deal treacherously.”

17 yYou have wearied the Lord with your words;

“Yet you say,

“In what way have we wearied Him?”

In that you say,

z“Everyone who does evil

Is good in the sight of the Lord,

And He delights in them,”

Or, “Where is the God of justice?”

The Coming Messenger

3 “Behold, aI send My messenger,

And he will bprepare the way before Me.

And the Lord, whom you seek,

Will suddenly come to His temple,

cEven the Messenger of the covenant,

In whom you delight.

Behold, dHe is coming,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

2 “But who can endure ethe day of His coming?

And fwho can stand when He appears?

For gHe is like a refiner’s fire

And like launderers’ soap.

3 hHe will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;

He will purify the sons of Levi,

And 1purge them as gold and silver,

That they may ioffer to the Lord

An offering in righteousness.

4 “Then jthe offering of Judah and Jerusalem

Will be 2pleasant to the Lord,

As in the days of old,

As in former years.

5 And I will come near you for judgment;

I will be a swift witness

Against sorcerers,

Against adulterers,

kAgainst perjurers,

Against those who lexploit wage earners and mwidows and orphans,

And against those who turn away an alien—

Because they do not fear Me,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

6 “For I am the Lord, nI do not change;

oTherefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

7 Yet from the days of pyour fathers

You have gone away from My ordinances

And have not kept them.

qReturn to Me, and I will return to you,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

r“But you said,

‘In what way shall we return?’