Malachi 2:1-17

“And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not

take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the

curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, be-

cause you do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung

on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4 So shall

you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may

stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I

gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my

name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He

walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For 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 But 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 and so I make you despised and abased

before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your

instruction.”

10 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 fathers? 11 Judah 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 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who

does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping

and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from

your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was 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 Did he not make them one, with a portion of

the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So

guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your

youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the

God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard your-

selves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied

him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he de-

lights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”