\NormalFont\ShortTitle{Malachi}
{\MT Malachi

\par }\ChapOne{1}{\SH The Lord’s Love for Israel
\par }{\PP \VerseOne{1}An
oracle.
The
message
of
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
to
Israel
through
Malachi.
\par }{\BB \par }{\PP \VS{2}“I
have
loved
you,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}. “But
you
ask, ‘How
have
you
shown
love
to
us?’
Was
not
Esau
Jacob’s
brother?”
explains
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts, “yet
I
loved
Jacob,
\VS{3}but
hated
Esau,
and
made
his
mountains
a
desolation,
and
transformed
his
ancestral
land
into
a
wilderness.
\VS{4}When
Edom
says, ‘We
are
beaten
down,
but
we
will
return
and
rebuild
the
ruined places’ ”
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts
says, “They
may
build,
but
I
will
throw
down.
They
will
be
called, ‘The
border
land
of
wickedness,’
the
people
against
whom
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
is
angry
forever.
\VS{5}Your
own
eyes
will
see
this,
and
you
will
say, ‘the
{\ND{
Lord}}’s
greatness
reaches
beyond
the
border
of
Israel.’ ”
\par }{\SH Against
the
Priests
\par }{\PP \VS{6}“A
son
honors
his
father
and
servant
their
master.
If
I
am
a
father,
where
is
my
honor?
And
if
I
am
a
master,
where
is
the
one
who
fears
me?
So
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
to
you,
priests
who
despise
my
name.
You
ask, ‘How
have
we
despised
your
name?’
\VS{7}You
offer
on
my
altar
bread
that
is
polluted.
You
ask, ‘How
have
we
polluted
it?’
Because
you
say, ‘The
table
of
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
is
contemptible.’
\VS{8}When
you
offer
the
blind
animal
for
sacrifice, ‘It
doesn’t
matter!’
And
when
you
offer
the
lame
and
the
sick ‘It
doesn’t
matter!’
Give
an
animal
like
that
to
your
governor;
will
he
be
pleased
with
it?
Will
he
receive
you
favorably?”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\VS{9}Now,
plead
for
the
favor
of
God
with
such
an
offering,
so
that
he
may
be
gracious
to
us. “Would
I
receive
any
of
you
favorably?”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\par }{\PP \VS{10}“If
only
one
of
you
would
shut
the
temple
doors,
so
that
you
could
not
kindle
useless
fires
on
my
altar!
I
have
no
pleasure
in
you,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts, “Nor
will
I
accept
an
offering
from
your
hand.
\VS{11}For
from
the
rising
of
the
sun
to
its
setting
my
name
is
great
among
the
nations,
and
in
every
place
they
offer
to
my
name
a
pure
offering.
For
my
name
is
great
among
the
nations,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\par }{\PP \VS{12}“But
you
profane
me
when
you
say, ‘The
table
of
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
is
polluted,
and
its
food
is
contemptible.’
\VS{13}You
say
also, ‘How
tired
we
are
of
all
this!’
and
you
sniff
contemptuously
at
it.
You
have
brought
the
blind,
the
lame
and
the
sick
as
offerings.
Should
I
accept
this
from
your
hand?”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\VS{14}“Cursed
be
the
cheat,
who
has
in
his
flock
a
valuable
male,
but
vows
and
sacrifices
to
the
Lord
a
blemished
animal!
For
I
am
a
great
king,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts, “and
my
name
is
feared
among
the
nations.”

\par }\Chap{2}{\PP \VerseOne{1}“Now,
you
priests,
this
command
is
for
you.
\VS{2}If
you
will
not
hear,
and
if
you
do
not
take
it
to
heart,
to
give
glory
to
my
name,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts, “Then
I
will
lay
a
curse
on
you.
I
will
turn
your
blessings
into
curses.
Indeed
I
have
already
done
so,
because
you
pay
no
attention.
\VS{3}I
will
punish
your
descendants!
I
will
spread
offal
upon
your
faces,
even
the
offal
of
your pilgrim
feasts,
you
will
be
discarded.
\VS{4}You
will
then
know
that
I
have
sent
this
command
to
you,
so
that
my
covenant
with
Levi
may
be
preserved,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\par }{\PP \VS{5}“My
covenant
with
him
was
to
give
life
and
peace.
I
gave
them
to
him
so
that
he
might
revere
me.
He
revered
me,
and
stood
in
awe
of
my
name.
\VS{6}The
true
instruction
was
in
his
mouth,
and
injustice
was
not
found
in
his
lips;
He
walked
with
me
in
peace
and
uprightness,
and
turned
many
away
from
iniquity.
\VS{7}For
the
priest’s
lips
should
keep
knowledge,
and
people
should
seek
the
law
from
his
mouth,
because
he
is
the
messenger
of
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\par }{\PP \VS{8}“But
you
have
turned
aside
from
that
way.
You
have
caused
many
to
stumble
in
the
law.
You
have
corrupted
the
covenant
of
Levi,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\VS{9}“So
I
have
I
made
you
contemptible
and
degraded
before
all
the
people,
because
you
have
not
kept
my
ways,
and
have
had
no
respect
for
me
in imparting
the
law.”
\par }{\SH Unfaithfulness
\par }{\PP \VS{10}Don’t
we
have
all
one
father?
Didn’t
one
God
created
us?
Why
do
we
deal faithlessly
with
one
another,
profaning
the
covenant
of
our
ancestors?
\VS{11}Judah
is
treacherous,
and
abominations
are
committed
in
Israel
and
in
Jerusalem
because
Judah
has
profaned
the
holy
things
loved
by
the
{\ND{
Lord}},
and
has
married
the
daughter
of
a
foreign
god.
\VS{12}May
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
banish
from
the
community
of
Jacob
anyone
who
does
this,
anyone awaking, testifying,
and
making
an
offering
to
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\VS{13}And
you
also
do
this:
You
cover
the
altar
of
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
with
tears,
because
he
doesn’t
accept
the
offering
any
more,
doesn’t
accept
it
from
your
hand.
\VS{14}Yet
you
ask, “Why?”
Because
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
is testifying
against
you
on
behalf
of
the
wife
you
married
when
you
were
young.
You
have
been
unfaithful
to
her,
even
though
she
is
your
companion,
and
your
legal
wife.
\par }{\PP \VS{15}Did
not
the
one
God
make
everyone,
so
that
all
both
flesh
and
spirit
is
his?
And
what
does
that
one
God
seek
but
godly
children?
Therefore
keep
watch
over
your
spirit,
and
let
none
of
you
deal faithlessly
with
the
wife
of
your
youth.
\VS{16}“A
man
who
divorces
or
puts
away
his
wife,”
says
{\ND{
Lord}},
the
God
of
Israel, “overwhelms
her
with
cruelty.”
The
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts
says: “Keep
watch
over
your
spirit,
do
not
be
unfaithful.”
\par }{\SH The
Lord’s
Coming
Judgment
\par }{\PP \VS{17}You
have
wearied
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
with
your
words.
You
ask, “How
have
we
wearied
him?”
By
saying, “Everyone
who
does
evil
is
good
in
the
sight
of
the
{\ND{
Lord}},
and
he
delights
in
them.”
Or, “Where
is
the
God
of
justice?”

\par }\Chap{3}{\PP \VerseOne{1}“I
am
about
to
send
my
messenger
and
he
will
clear
a
path
before
me:
And
the
{\ND{
Lord}},
who
you
are
seeking,
will
suddenly
come
to
his
temple.
The
messenger
of
the
covenant
who
you
long
for
is
already
coming,
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\VS{2}But
who
can
endure
the
day
of
his
coming?
And
who
will
stand
firm
when
he
appears?
He
is
like
a
refiner’s
fire,
and
like
a launderer’s
soap,
\VS{3}and
he
will
sit
as
a
refiner
and
purifier.
He
will
purify
the
descendants
of
Levi,
and
refine
them
like
gold
and
silver,
until
they
are
fit
to
bring
offerings
to
the
{\ND{
Lord}}.
\VS{4}Then
will
the
offerings
of
Judah
and
Jerusalem
be
pleasant
to
the
{\ND{
Lord}},
as
in
the
days
of
old,
and
as
in
former
years.
\par }{\PP \VS{5}“I
will
come
to
you
in
judgment.
I
will
be
quick
to
testify
against
the
sorcerers,
adulterers, perjurers,
those
who
cheat
workers,
or
widows,
or
orphans,
deny
justice
to
immigrants,
and
do
not
fear
me,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\VS{6}“For
I,
the
{\ND{
Lord}},
do
not
change;
and
you
have
not
ceased
to
be
descendants
of
Jacob.”
\par }{\SH Paying
the
Tithe
\par }{\PP \VS{7}“From
the
days
of
your
ancestors,
you
have
turned
aside
from
my
statutes,
and
you
have
not
kept
them.
Turn
to
me
and
I
will
turn
to
you,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}. “You
say, ‘How
should
we
turn?’
\VS{8}Can
a
human
rob
God?
Yet
you
robbed
me.
You
ask, ‘How
have
we
robbed
you?’
In
tithes
and
gifts!
\VS{9}You –
your
entire
nation –
are
all
cursed,
because
you
rob
me.
\par }{\PP \VS{10}“Bring
the
whole
tithe
into
the
storehouse,
so
that
there
is
food
in
my
house.
Test
me
in
this
way.
See
if
I
will
not
open
to
you
the
windows
of
the
sky,
and
pour
you
out
a
blessing,
until
there
is
more
than
enough.
\VS{11}I
will
rebuke
for
your
sakes
the
devouring
locust
and
he
will
not
destroy
your
crops,
nor
will
the
vine
fail
to ripen
its
fruit
in
the
field,
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts,
\VS{12}and
all
nations
will
call
you
happy,
for
you
will
be
a
delightful
land,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\par }{\SH Future
Reward
of
the
Godless
and
Faithful
\par }{\PP \VS{13}“You
have
said
terrible
things
about
me,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}. “You
ask, ‘What
have
we
said
about
you?’
\VS{14}You
have
said, ‘It
is
useless
to
serve
God,
and
what
do
we
gain
from
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts
by
keeping
his
commands,
and
walking
mournfully
in funeral garb
before
him?
\VS{15}So
now
we
call
the
proud
happy,
evildoers
thrive:
they
dare
God
and
escape
unharmed.’ ”
\par }{\PP \VS{16}Such
things
those
who
revered
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
spoke
to
one
another,
and
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
took
notice,
and
a
record
was
written
before
him
of
those
who
revered
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
and
those
who
keep
in
mind
his
name.
\VS{17}“They
will
be
mine,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts, “my
special
possession
on
that
day
that
I
am
preparing.
I
will
spare
them
as
a
man
spares
his
son
who
serves
him.
\VS{18}Once
again
my
people
will
see
the
difference
between
the
righteous
and
the
wicked,
between
the
person
who
serves
God
and
the
person
who
does
not.”

\par }\Chap{4}{\PP \VerseOne{1}“The
day
is
coming
that
will
burn
like
a
furnace,
and
all
the
proud
and
all
evildoers
will
be
stubble,
and
the
day
that
is
coming
will
burn
them
up,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts, “leaving
neither
root
nor
branch.
\VS{2}But
to
you
who
revere
my
name
there
will
arise
the
sun
of
righteousness
with
healing
in
its
wings,
and
you
will
run
free
like
calves
let
out
from
their
stall.
\VS{3}In
the
day
when
I
act
you
will
tread
down
the
wicked,
they
will
be
as
ashes
under
the
soles
of
your
feet,”
says
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
of
hosts.
\par }{\PP \VS{4}“Remember
the
law
of
Moses
my
servant,
statutes
and
judgments
which
I
gave
him
at
Horeb
for
all
Israel.
\VS{5}I
am
about
to
send
to
you
Elijah
the
prophet,
before
the
great
and
terrible
day
of
the
{\ND{
Lord}}
comes.
\VS{6}He
will
turn
fathers’
hearts
to
their
sons
and
sons’
hearts
to
their
fathers,
so
that
I
will
not
come
and
strike
the
earth
with judgement.”
\par }