Mal 2 | NASB1995 | STEP | “ And now this commandment is for you, O priests .

Malachi 2

Priests to Be Disciplined

1 “And now this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 “If you do ^anot listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the ^bcurse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have ^ccursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. 3 “Behold, I am going to ^drebuke your ^{▼▼ Lit seed}offspring, and I will ^fspread ^{▼▼ Or vomit}refuse on your faces, the ^{▼▼ Or vomit}refuse of your ⁱfeasts; and you will be taken away ^{▼▼ Lit to}with it. 4 “Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, ^{▼▼ Or to be My covenant with}that My ^lcovenant may ^{▼▼ Lit be}continue with Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. 5 “My covenant with him was one of life and ⁿpeace, and I gave them to him as an object of ^{▼▼ Or fear}reverence; so he ^{▼▼ Or feared
,} ^qrevered Me and stood in awe of My name. 6 ^{▼▼ Or Law of truth
,} ^s“True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked ^twith Me in peace and uprightness, and he ^uturned many back from iniquity. 7 “For the lips of a priest should preserve ^vknowledge, and ^{▼▼ Lit they}men should ^xseek ^{▼▼ Or law}instruction from his mouth; for he is the ^zmessenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 “But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to ^aastumble ^{▼▼ Or in the law}by the instruction; you have ^{▼▼ Or violated
,} ^adcorrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. 9 “So ^aeI also have made you despised and ^afabased ^{▼▼ Lit to}before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing ^ahpartiality in the ^{▼▼ Or law}instruction.

Sin in the Family

10 “Do we not all have ^ajone father? ^akHas not one God created us? Why do we deal ^altreacherously each against his brother so as to profane the ^amcovenant of our fathers? 11 “Judah has dealt ^antreacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has ^aoprofaned the sanctuary of the Lord ^{▼▼ Or in that He has loved and married}which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 “As for the man who does this, may the ^aqLord cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who ^arpresents ^{▼▼ Or a grain offering}an offering to the Lord of hosts.

13 “This is ^{▼▼ Lit second}another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He ^auno longer regards the ^{▼▼ Or grain offering}offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the ^awwife of your youth, against whom you have dealt ^axtreacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 ^{▼▼ Or Did He not make one, although He had the remnant}“But not one has ^azdone so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And ^{▼▼ Or why one? He sought a godly offspring}what did that one do while he was seeking a ^bbgodly ^{▼▼ Lit seed}offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal ^bdtreacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 “For ^{▼▼ Lit He hates}I hate ^{▼▼ Lit sending away
,} ^bgdivorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and ^{▼▼ Lit he covers}him who covers his garment with ^{▼▼ Or violence
,} ^bjwrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

17 You have ^bkwearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, ^bl“Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He ^bmdelights in them,” or, ^bn“Where is the God of ^bojustice?”