Mal 2 | NASB2020 | STEP | “And now , this commandment is for you, the priests .

Malachi 2

Priests to Be Disciplined

1 “And now, this commandment is for you, the 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 armies, “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}descendants, and I will ^fspread ^{▼▼Or vomit}dung on your faces, the ^{▼▼Or vomit}dung 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}so that My ^lcovenant may ^{▼▼Lit be}continue with Levi,” says the Lord of armies. 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 was in awe of My name. 6 ^{▼▼Or Law of truth
,} ^sTrue instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked ^twith Me in peace and justice, and he ^uturned many back from wrongdoing. 7 For the lips of a priest should maintain ^vknowledge, and people should ^wseek ^{▼▼Or the Law}instruction from his mouth; for he is the ^ymessenger of the Lord of armies. 8 But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to ^zstumble ^{▼▼Or in the Law}by the instruction; you have ^abruined the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of armies. 9 “So ^acI also have made you despised and of ^adlow reputation ^{▼▼Lit to}in the view of all the people, since you are not keeping My ways but are showing ^afpartiality in the ^{▼▼Or law}instruction.”

Sin in the Family

10 Do we not all have ^ahone Father? ^aiIs it not one God who has created us? Why do we deal ^ajtreacherously, each against his brother so as to profane the ^akcovenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has dealt ^altreacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has ^amprofaned 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 ^aoLord eliminate from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and answers, or who ^appresents ^{▼▼Or a grain offering}an offering to the Lord of armies.

13 And this is ^{▼▼Lit a second}another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He ^asno longer gives attention to 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 ^auwife of your youth, against whom you have dealt ^avtreacherously, though she is your marriage companion and your wife by covenant. 15 ^{▼▼Or Did He not make one, although He had the remnant}But not one has ^axdone so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And ^{▼▼Or what did the one do while he was seeking}why the one? He was seeking a ^azgodly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals ^batreacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 “For ^{▼▼Lit He hates}I hate ^{▼▼Lit sending away
,} ^bddivorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and ^{▼▼Lit he covers}him who covers his garment with ^bfviolence,” says the Lord of armies. “So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

17 You have ^bgwearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “ ^bhEveryone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He ^bidelights in them,” or, “ ^bjWhere is the God of ^bkjustice?”