Malachi 2

1 And now, to you [is] this charge, O priests,

Now you priests, this command is for you.

2 If ye hearken not, and if ye lay [it] not to heart, To give honour to My name, said Jehovah of Hosts, I have sent against you the curse, And I have cursed your blessings, Yea, I have also cursed it, Because ye are not laying [it] to heart.

“If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it on your heart to give honor to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them, because you are not laying my command on your heart.

3 Lo, I am pushing away before you the seed, And have scattered dung before your faces, Dung of your festivals, And it hath taken you away with it.

See, I am about to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the dung from your festivals, and he will take you away with it.

4 And ye have known that I have sent unto you this charge, For My covenant being with Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

You will know that I have sent this command to you, and that my covenant may continue to be with Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts.

5 My covenant hath been with him of life and of peace, And I make them to him a fear, and he doth fear Me, And because of My name he hath been affrighted.

“My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave them to him; I gave him fear, and he feared me, and he stood in awe of my name.

6 The law of truth hath been in his mouth, And perverseness hath not been found in his lips, In peace and in uprightness he walked with Me, And many he brought back from iniquity.

True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness and he turned many away from sin.

7 For the lips of a priest preserve knowledge, And law they do seek from his mouth, For a messenger of Jehovah of Hosts he [is].

For a priest's lips should keep knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is a messenger of Yahweh of hosts.

8 And ye, ye have turned from the way, Ye have caused many to stumble in the law, Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

But you have turned away from the true path. You have caused many to stumble with respect to the law. You have broken the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts.

9 And I also, I have made you despised and low before all the people, Because ye are not keeping My ways, And are accepting persons in the law.

“So I also, I have made you contemptible and vile before all the people, because you have not kept my ways, but have instead shown partiality with regard to the instruction.”

10 Have we not all one father? Hath not our God prepared us? Wherefore do we deal treacherously, Each against his brother, To pollute the covenant of our fathers?

Is there not one father for us all? Has not one God created us? Why are we faithless each man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?

11 Dealt treacherously hath Judah, And abomination hath been done in Israel, and in Jerusalem, For polluted hath Judah the holy thing of Jehovah, That He hath loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

Judah has been faithless. A disgusting thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy place of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

12 Cut off doth Jehovah the man who doth it, Tempter and tempted — from the tents of Jacob, Even he who is bringing nigh a present to Jehovah of Hosts.

May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, the one who is awake and the one who answers, even if he is bringing an offering to Yahweh of hosts.

13 And this a second time ye do, Covering with tears the altar of Jehovah, With weeping and groaning, Because there is no more turning unto the present, Or receiving of a pleasing thing from your hand.

You also do this: You cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping and sighing, because he still does not turn toward the offering or accept it with favor from your hand.

14 And ye have said, 'Wherefore?' Because Jehovah hath testified between thee And the wife of thy youth, That thou hast dealt treacherously against her, And she thy companion, and thy covenant-wife.

But you say, “Why does he not?” Because Yahweh was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been faithless, even though she was your companion and your wife by covenant.

15 And He did not make one [only], And He hath the remnant of the Spirit. And what [is] the one [alone]! He is seeking a godly seed. And ye have been watchful over your spirit, And with the wife of thy youth, None doth deal treacherously.

Did he not make them one, with a portion of his spirit? Then why did he make you one? Because he was seeking an offspring from God. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

16 For [I] hate sending away, said Jehovah, God of Israel, And He [who] hath covered violence with his clothing, said Jehovah of Hosts, And ye have been watchful over your spirit, And ye do not deal treacherously.

“For I hate divorce,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and the one who covers his garment with violence,” says Yahweh of hosts. “So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.”

17 Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words, And ye have said: 'In what have we wearied Him?' In your saying: 'Every evil-doer [is] good in the eyes of Jehovah, And in them He is delighting,' Or, 'Where [is] the God of judgment?'

You have wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of Yahweh, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”