MALACHI 2 “And now,  y O priests,  z this command is for you. 2[†] a 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  b the curse upon you and I will curse  c your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. 3Behold,  d I will rebuke your offspring, [1] and  e spread dung on your faces, the  f dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. [2] 4So shall you know that I have sent  g this command to you, that  h my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts. 5My covenant with him was one of life and  i peace, and I gave them to him.  j It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 k True instruction [3] was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he  l turned many from iniquity. 7For  m the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people [4] 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.  n You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted  o the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts, 9and so  p I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but  q show partiality in your instruction.”

10[†]Have we not all  r one Father? Has not  s one God created us? Why then are we  t faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11Judah has been  t faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For  u Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant [5] of the man who does this, who  v brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!

13[†]And this second thing you do.  w 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 x But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD  y was witness between you and the wife of your youth,  z to whom  t you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15[†] a Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? [6] And what was the one God [7] seeking? [8]  b Godly offspring. So guard yourselves [9] in your spirit, and let none of you be  t faithless to the wife of your youth. 16[†]“For  c the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, [10] says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers [11] his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and  t do not be faithless.”

17[†] d You have wearied the LORD with your words.  x But you say, “How have we wearied him?”  e By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking,  f “Where is the God of justice?”