Malachi 2:5

Easy-to-Read Version

The Lord said, "I made that agreement with Levi. I promised to give him life and peace—and I gave him those things. Levi respected me and showed honor to my name.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.

King James Version (1611)
My couenant was with him of life and peace, and I gaue them to him, for the feare, wherewith he feared mee, and was afraid before my name.

King James Version
My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.

English Standard Version
My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.

New American Standard Bible
"My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and was in awe of My name.

New Century Version
"My agreement for priests was with the tribe of Levi. I promised them life and peace so they would honor me. And they did honor me and fear me.

Amplified Bible
"My covenant with Levi was [one of] life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he [and the priests] feared Me and stood in reverent awe of My name.

Geneva Bible (1587)
My couenant was with him of life and peace, and I gaue him feare, and he feared mee, and was afraid before my Name.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

Legacy Standard Bible
"My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as something to be feared; so he feared Me and stood in awe of My name.

Berean Standard Bible
"My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

Contemporary English Version
I blessed him with a full life, as I had promised, and he kept his part of the agreement by honoring me and respecting my name.

Complete Jewish Bible
"My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave him these things. It was also one of fear, and he feared me; he was in awe of my name.

Darby Translation
My covenant with him was of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear; and he feared me, and trembled before my name.

George Lamsa Translation
My covenant was with him, and I gave him life and peace; and as for fear, he feared me and trembled before my name.

Good News Translation
"In my covenant I promised them life and well-being, and this is what I gave them, so that they might respect me. In those days they did respect and fear me.

Lexham English Bible
"My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. This required reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe before my name.

Literal Translation
My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave them to him for fear; and he feared Me, and he is put in awe before My name.

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

Bible in Basic English
My agreement with him was on my side life and peace, and I gave them to him; on his side fear, and he had fear of me and gave honour to my name.

Hebrew Names Version
"My covenant was with him of life and shalom; and I gave them to him who he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent toward me, and stood in awe of my name.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, and of fear, and he feared Me, and was afraid of My name.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
My couenaunt was with him, of lyfe and peace, and I gaue them him [for] the feare wherwith he feared me and was afrayde before my name.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
My covenant of life and peace was with him, and I gave it him that he might reverently fear me, and that he might be awe-struck at my name.

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

World English Bible
"My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him who he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent toward me, and stood in awe of my name.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
My couenaunt was with hym of lijf and pees; and Y yaf to hym a drede, and he dredde me, and he dredde of face of my name.

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

Webster's Bible Translation
My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him [for] the fear with which he feared me, and was afraid before my name.

New English Translation
"My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me.

New King James Version
"My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name.

New Living Translation
"The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name.

New Life Bible
"My agreement with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him, that he might honor Me with fear. So he honored Me with fear. My name filled him with fear and wonder.

New Revised Standard
My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
My covenant, was with him, Life and Well-being, so I gave them to him - I as One to be revered - and he did revere me, - and, before my Name, dismayed, was he.

Douay-Rheims Bible
My covenant was with him of life and peace: and I gave him fear: and he feared me, and he was afraid before my name.

Revised Standard Version
My covenant with him was a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him, that he might fear; and he feared me, he stood in awe of my name.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I made a couenaunt of life and peace wt him: this I gaue him, that he might stonde in awe of me: and so he dyd feare me, ad had my name in reuerence.

Contextual Overview

¹ "Priests, this rule is for you. ² Listen to me! Pay attention to what I say. Show honor to my name. If you don't respect my name, bad things will happen to you. You will say blessings, but they will become curses. I will make bad things happen because you don't show respect for my name." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said. ³ "Look, I will punish your descendants. During the festivals, you priests offer sacrifices to me. You take the dung and inside parts from the dead animals and throw them away. But I will smear the dung on your faces, and you will be thrown away with it! ⁴ Then you will learn why I am giving you this command. I am telling you these things so that my agreement with Levi will continue." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said. ⁵ The Lord said, "I made that agreement with Levi. I promised to give him life and peace—and I gave him those things. Levi respected me and showed honor to my name. ⁶ He taught the true teachings and didn't teach lies. Levi was honest, and he loved peace. He followed me and saved many people from being punished for the evil things they did. ⁷ A priest should know God's teachings. People should be able to go to a priest and learn God's teachings. A priest should be the Lord 's messenger to the people. ⁸ "But you priests stopped following me! You used the teachings to make people do wrong. You ruined the agreement with Levi." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said. ⁹ "You don't live the way I told you. You have not accepted my teachings. So I will cause people to hate you and think you are worth nothing."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

covenant: Numbers 3:45, Numbers 8:15, Numbers 16:9, Numbers 16:10, Numbers 18:8-24, Numbers 25:12, Numbers 25:13, Deuteronomy 33:8-10, Psalms 106:30, Psalms 106:31, Ezekiel 34:25, Ezekiel 37:26

I gave: Exodus 32:26-29, Deuteronomy 33:8-11

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 33:9 - for they Proverbs 14:2 - that walketh Isaiah 8:13 - and let him Isaiah 54:10 - the covenant Zechariah 3:7 - judge Malachi 2:8 - ye have corrupted Mark 4:41 - feared

Cross-References

Genesis 2:9
Then the Lord God caused all the beautiful trees that were good for food to grow in the garden. In the middle of the garden, he put the tree of life and the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first river was Pishon. This river flowed around the entire country of Havilah.

Genesis 2:12
(There is gold in that country, and that gold is pure. A kind of expensive perfume and onyx are also found there.)

Genesis 3:23
So the Lord God forced the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground he was made from.

Genesis 4:2
Eve gave birth again to Cain's brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd, and Cain became a farmer.

Genesis 4:12
Now when you work the soil, the ground will not help your plants grow. You will not have a home in this land. You will wander from place to place."

Job 5:10
He sends rain all over the earth and waters the fields.

Psalms 104:14
You make the grass grow to feed the animals. You provide plants for the crops we grow— the plants that give us food from the earth.

Psalms 135:7
He brings the clouds from the other side of the earth. He sends the lightning and the rain, and he opens the doors to release the winds.

Jeremiah 14:22
Foreign idols don't have the power to bring rain. The sky does not have the power to send down showers of rain. You, the Lord our God, are our only hope. You are the one who made all these things.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

My covenant was with him of life and peace,.... Not with Aaron, nor with Phinehas; nor is it to be understood of a covenant, promising temporal life and outward prosperity to either of them; Aaron living a hundred and twenty three years, Numbers 33:39 and Phinehas, according to some Jewish writers, above three hundred years, which they gather from Judges 20:28 but of the covenant made with Christ from everlasting, called "a covenant of life", because it was made with Christ the Word of life, who was with the Father from all eternity, and in time was made manifest in the flesh; and was made in behalf of persons ordained to eternal life, and in which that was promised and given to them in him; and in which it was agreed that he should become man, and lay down his life as such, that they might enjoy it: and it is called a "covenant of peace", because the scheme of peace and reconciliation was drawn in it, and agreed unto; Christ was appointed in it to be the Peacemaker; and in consequence of which he was sent to procure peace, and he has made it by the blood of his cross: and this covenant may be said to have been and to be "with him"; because it was made with him from all eternity, as the head and representative of his people, and he had all the blessings and promises of it put into his hands; and it stands fast with him, and will do so for evermore.

And I gave them to him; namely, the blessings of life and peace; eternal life is the gift of God; and not only the promise of it, but that itself, was given to Christ in covenant for his people, and a power to give it to as many as the Father gave to him, Psalms 21:4 2 Timothy 1:1 he gave him also peace to make, put this work of peacemaking into his hand; and he allows it to be made by him, and that it is rightly effected; and from his blood and righteousness peace springs to his people; and they enjoy peace in him and through him, yea, all prosperity and happiness:

[for] the fear wherewith he feared me; because of his obedience to the precept and penalty of the law; because of his righteousness, and sufferings, and death, by means of which life and peace came to his people, and in which he showed great fear and reverence of God, Hebrews 5:7 the word "for" is not in the original text, and may be left out in a version, or supplied with "and"; and the sense be, besides the blessings of life and peace, I also gave him the fear with which he feared me; which must be understood of the grace of fear bestowed on him as man: so the Septuagint version, "I gave unto him in fear to fear me"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "and I gave him fear, and he feared me": and the Arabic version, "I gave him fear, that he might fear me": the Targum is,

"I gave him the perfect doctrine of the law, or the doctrine of the perfect law (see James 1:25) that he might fear before me.''

And was afraid before my name; frightened, and put into consternation, as he was when in the garden, and he began to be heavy and sore amazed,

Mark 14:33 or he was broken and bruised, as Kimchi interprets the word here used, because of the name of the Lord, to satisfy his justice, fulfil his law, and glorify all his perfections.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

My covenant was with him life and peace; - literally “the life and the peace;” that, which alone is true “life and peace.” The covenant was not with Levi himself, but with Aaron, his representative, with whom the covenant was made in the desert, as is indeed here expressed; and, in him, with all his race after him, who succeeded him in his office; as, when it is said, that 1 Chronicles 6:49, “Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of burnt-offering,” it must needs be understood, not of Aaron in person alone and his sons then living, but of any of his race that succeeded in his and their room. So our Lord promised to be with His Apostles Matthew 28:20, “always to the end of the world,” i. e., with them and those whom they should appoint in their stead, and these others, until He should Himself come. God promised, if they would keep the law, that they should live in peace on the earth; yea, that they should have peace of mind and a life of grace. “Life” is an indefectible being, which man does not forfeit by sin, to which death is no interruption, changing only the place of the soul’s life.

And I gave them to him - , in, or as, “fear,” “Fear, not servile but filial and pure, as Paul bids Christians Philippians 2:12, ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.’” God gave them an awful gift, to be held with fear and awe, for its very preciousness, as one would hold anxiously what is very precious, yet very fragile and easily marred.

And he feared Me, and was afraid before My Name - Malachi unites two words, the second expressive of strong fear, by which a man is, as it were, crushed or broken. They are often united in Hebrew, but as expressing terror, which men are bidden not to feel before men. Toward man it is ever said Deuteronomy 1:21; Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 1:9; Jos 10:25; 1 Chronicles 22:13; 1 Chronicles 28:20; 2Ch 20:15, 2 Chronicles 20:17; 2 Chronicles 32:7; Isaiah 51:7; Jeremiah 23:4; Jeremiah 30:10; Jeremiah 46:27; Ezra 2:6; Ezra 3:9, “fear not, neither be ye dismayed;” toward God Alone, it is a matter of praise. Man’s highest fear is too little, for he knows not, who God is. So Isaiah says Isaiah 8:12-13, “Fear ye not their fear (the fear of this people), nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself, and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread.” “What can be more precious (than this fear)? For it is written Proverbs 13:13, ‘He who feareth the Lord will be rewarded.’ (Ecclesiasticus 1:11), ‘The fear of the Lord is honor and glory and gladness and a crown of rejoicing.’ He saith, “the fear, wherewith he feareth Me and was afraid,” i. e., he received the fear of God in his whole heart and soul. For these reduplications and emphases suggest to the hearer how rooted in virtue are those thus praised.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Malachi 2:5. My covenant was with him of life and peace — These are the two grand blessings given to men by the NEW Covenant, which was shadowed by the OLD. To man, excluded from the favour of God, and sentenced to death because of sin, God gave ברית berith, a covenant sacrifice, and this secured life-exemption from the death deserved by transgressors; communication of that inward spiritual life given by Christ, and issuing in that eternal life promised to all his faithful disciples. And, as it secured life, so it gave peace, prosperity, and happiness; peace between God and man, between man and man, and between man and his own conscience.