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The Lord Rebukes the Priests

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

Judah Profaned the Covenant

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

¹³ And this second thing you do. ^(z)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 (aa)But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the Lord ^(ab)was witness between you and the wife of your youth, ^(ac)to whom ^(ad)you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ^15 (ae)Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?^[f] And what was the one God^[g] seeking?^{[h] (af)}Godly offspring. So guard yourselves^[i] in your spirit, and let none of you be ^(ag)faithless to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ "For ^(ah)the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,^[j] says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers^[k] his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and ^(ai)do not be faithless."

The Messenger of the Lord

^17 (aj)You have wearied the Lord with your words. ^(ak)But you say, "How have we wearied him?" ^(al)By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them." Or by asking, ^(am)"Where is the God of justice?"