Malachi 1

1 A prophecy: This message came from the Lord concerning Israel through Malachi.

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi.

2 I have loved you, says the Lord. But you ask, “How have you loved us?” Wasn't Esau Joseph's brother? the Lord responds. But I loved Joseph

I have loved you, says the Lord, and you have said, “In what way have you loved us?” Was not Esau brother to Jacob, says the Lord? And have I not loved Jacob,

3 and despised Esau. I have made Esau's mountain homeland into a wasteland, and turned his inheritance into a desert for jackals.

but held hatred for Esau? And I have set his mountains in solitude, and his inheritance with the serpents of the desert.

4 The people of Edom may be saying: “We have been beaten down, but we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says, They may try and build, but I will tear down. They will be called a land of wickedness, and the people those who make the Lord angry forever.

But if Idumea will say, “We have been destroyed, but when we return, we will build up what has been destroyed,” thus says the Lord of hosts: They will build up, and I will destroy. And they will be called “The limits of impiety,” and, “The people with whom the Lord has been angry, even to eternity.”

5 You will see this destruction with your own eyes, and you will say, “The Lord is great, even beyond the borders of Israel.”

And your eyes will see. And you will say, “May the Lord be magnified beyond the limits of Israel.”

6 A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. So if I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? says the Lord Almighty to you priests who show contempt for me. But you ask, “How have we shown contempt for you?”

The son honors the father, and the servant his master. If, therefore, I am Father, where is my honor? And if I am Master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. And you have said, “In what way, have we despised your name?”

7 By making defiled offerings on my altar. Then you ask, “How have we defiled you?” By saying the Lord's table doesn't deserve respect.

You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say, “In what way, have we polluted you?” In that you say, “The table of the Lord has been despised.”

8 When you offer a blind animal as a sacrifice, isn't that wrong? Or when you offer an animal that is crippled or sick, isn't that wrong? Would you give such gifts to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Would he be kind and show favor to you? asks the Lord Almighty.

If you offer the blind for sacrifice, is this not evil? And if you offer the lame and the sick, is this not evil? Offer it to your leader, if he will be pleased with it, or if he will accept your face, says the Lord of hosts.

9 So why don't you try being kind to God, begging him to be merciful to you? But when you bring such offerings, why should he show favor to you? asks the Lord Almighty.

And now, beseech the face of God, so that he may have mercy on you (for by your hand has this been done) if, in any way, he might accept your faces, says the Lord of hosts.

10 I really wish one of you would shut the Temple doors to stop you lighting pointless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept offerings from you.

Who is there among you that would close the doors and enflame my altar without pay? I have no favor in you, says the Lord of hosts. And I will not accept a gift from your hand.

11 I am honored by nations from the farthest east to the distant west; everywhere people make offerings to me of incense and pure sacrifices. I am honored among the nations, says the Lord Almighty.

For, from the rising of the sun even to its setting, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place, a clean oblation is being sacrificed and offered to my name. For my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord of hosts.

12 But you dishonor me when you say the Lord's table doesn't deserve respect, and that its food can be treated with contempt.

And you have polluted it, in that you say, “The table of the Lord has been contaminated; and that which is placed upon it is contemptible, compared with the fire that devours it.”

13 You say, “All this is too much trouble!” and you sniff scornfully at it, says the Lord Almighty. But when you bring animals that are stolen or crippled or sick and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept what you're giving? asks the Lord.

And you have said, “Behold our labor,” and you have exhaled it away, says the Lord of hosts. And you brought in by plunder the lame, and the sick, and brought it in as a gift. How can I receive this from your hand, says the Lord?

14 Cursed are those who cheat by vowing to bring a ram as a sacrifice and then offers an imperfect animal to the Lord. For I am a great King, says the Lord Almighty, and I am respected among the nations!

Cursed is the deceitful, who holds in his flock a male, and, when making a vow, offers in sacrifice that which is feeble to the Lord. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the Gentiles.