Malachi 2
2
Malachi 2
1And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2#Lev 26.14; Deut 28.15–20If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; indeed, I have already cursed them#2.2 Heb it because you do not lay it to heart. 3I will rebuke your offspring and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and I will put you out of my presence.#2.3 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb and he shall bear you to it
4 #
Num 3.45; 18.21 Know, then, that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may hold, says the Lord of hosts. 5#Num 25.12; Deut 33.9; Ezek 34.25My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6#Deut 33.8–10; Jer 23.22; Jas 5.20True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in integrity and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7#Lev 10.11; Num 27.21; Jer 18.18For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8#Jer 18.15; Ezek 44.10; Mal 3.7But you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9#Deut 1.17; 1 Sam 2.30; Mic 3.11so I make you despised and humbled before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways but have shown partiality in your instruction.
The Covenant Profaned by Judah
10 #
Ex 19.4–6; Isa 63.16; Jer 9.4, 5; 1 Cor 8.6 Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? 11#Ezra 9.1; Neh 13.23; Jer 3.7–9Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12#Hos 9.12; Mal 1.10, 13For the one who does this, may the Lord cut off any witness#2.12 Q ms Compare Gk: MT arouse or advocate from the tents of Jacob or anyone who could bring an offering to the Lord of hosts.
13And this you do as well: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor at your hand. 14#Prov 2.17; 5.18You ask, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15#Gen 2.24; Ex 20.14; Lev 20.10; Mt 19.4Did God#2.15 Heb he not make them one, flesh with spirit in it? And what does the one desire? Godly offspring. So look to yourselves, and do not let anyone be faithless to the wife of his youth.#2.15 Meaning of Heb uncertain 16For I hate#2.16 Cn: Heb he hates divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and covering one’s garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless.
17 #
Isa 5.19, 20; 43.24 You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
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Malachi 2: NRSVUE
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New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
