Malachi 2:2

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
If you don’t listen, and if you don’t take it to heart to honor my name,” says the Lord of Armies, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart.

King James Version (1611)
If ye will not heare, and if yee will not lay it to heart, to giue glory vnto my name, saith the Lord of hostes; I will euen send a curse vpon you, and will curse your blessings: yea, I haue cursed them already, because yee doe not lay it to heart.

King James Version
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

English Standard Version
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 the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

New American Standard Bible
"If you do not 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 curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

New Century Version
Listen to me. Pay attention to what I say. Honor my name," says the Lord All-Powerful. "If you don't, I will send a curse on you and on your blessings. I have already cursed them, because you don't pay attention to what I say.

Amplified Bible
"If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings [on the people]. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

Geneva Bible (1587)
If yee will not heare it, nor consider it in your heart, to giue glory vnto my Name, sayth the Lorde of hostes, I will euen sende a curse vpon you, and will curse your blessings: yea, I haue cursed them alreadie, because yee doe not consider it in your heart.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

Legacy Standard Bible
If you do not listen, and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already because you are not setting it upon your heart.

Berean Standard Bible
"If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name," says the LORD of Hosts, "I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.

Contemporary English Version
You had better take seriously the need to honor my name. Otherwise, when you give a blessing, I will turn it into a curse. In fact, I have already done this, because you haven't taken to heart your duties as priests.

Complete Jewish Bible
If you won't listen, if you won't pay attention to honoring my name," says Adonai -Tzva'ot, "then I will send the curse on you; I will turn your blessings into curses. Yes, I will curse them, because you pay no attention.

Darby Translation
If ye do not hear, and if ye do not lay [it] to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, I will even send the curse among you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have already cursed them, because ye do not lay [it] to heart.

Easy-to-Read Version
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.

George Lamsa Translation
If you will not obey, and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, I will send curses upon you, and I will curse your blessings because you have not laid it to your heart.

Good News Translation
You must honor me by what you do. If you will not listen to what I say, then I will bring a curse on you. I will put a curse on the things you receive for your support. In fact, I have already put a curse on them, because you do not take my command seriously.

Lexham English Bible
If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart to give glory to my name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; moreover I have already cursed them because you are not taking it to heart.

Literal Translation
If you will not hear, and if you will not set it on your heart to give glory to My name, says Jehovah of Hosts, then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Andindeed, I have cursed it, because you are not setting it on your heart.

American Standard Version
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

Bible in Basic English
If you will not give ear and take it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of armies, then I will send the curse on you and will put a curse on your blessing: truly, even now I have put a curse on it, because you do not take it to heart.

Hebrew Names Version
If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name," says the LORD of Hosts, "then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
If ye will not hearken, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto My name, saith the LORD of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I curse them, because ye do not lay it to heart.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
If ye wyl not heare it nor regard it, to geue the glory to my name, saith the Lorde of hoastes, I wyll sende a curse vpon you, and wyll curse your blessinges, yea I haue cursed them alredie, because ye do not consider it in your heart.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
If ye will not hearken, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord Almighty, then I will send forth the curse upon you, and I will bring a curse upon your blessing: yea, I will curse it, and I will scatter your blessing, and it shall not exist among you, because ye lay not this to heart.

English Revised Version
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

World English Bible
If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name," says Yahweh of Hosts, "then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If ye wolen here, and if ye `wolen not putte on the herte, that ye yyue glorie to my name, seith the Lord of oostis, Y schal sende nedynesse in to you, and Y schal curse to youre blessyngis; and Y schal curse hem, for ye han not putte on the herte.

Update Bible Version
If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says Yahweh of hosts, then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; yes, I have cursed them already, because you don't lay it to heart.

Webster's Bible Translation
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay [it] to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yes, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay [it] to heart.

New English Translation
If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses—indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

New King James Version
If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name," Says the LORD of hosts, "I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart.

New Living Translation
Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, "or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart.

New Life Bible
If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor My name," says the Lord of All, "then I will send the curse on you. I will destroy the good things you have been given. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you have not set your heart to honor Me.

New Revised Standard
If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse on you and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my Name, saith Yahweh of hosts, then will I send among you the curse, and will curse your blessings, - and indeed I have cursed them, because ye are not at all laying it to heart.

Douay-Rheims Bible
If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts: I will send poverty upon you, and will curse your blessings, yea I will curse them, because you have not laid it to heart.

Revised Standard Version
If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

Young's Literal Translation
If ye hearken not, and if ye lay [it] not to heart, To give honour to My name, said Jehovah of Hosts, I have sent against you the curse, And I have cursed your blessings, Yea, I have also cursed it, Because ye are not laying [it] to heart.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
yf ye will not heare it, ner regarde it, to geue the glory vnto my name (sayeth the LORDE off hoostes) I wil sende a curse vpon you, & will curse youre blessinges: yee curse them will I yf ye do not take hede.

Contextual Overview

¹"And now this indictment, you priests! If you refuse to obediently listen, and if you refuse to honor me, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, in worship, then I'll put you under a curse. I'll exchange all your blessings for curses. In fact, the curses are already at work because you're not serious about honoring me. Yes, and the curse will extend to your children. I'm going to plaster your faces with rotting garbage, garbage thrown out from your feasts. That's what you have to look forward to! ⁴"Maybe that will wake you up. Maybe then you'll realize that I'm indicting you in order to put new life into my covenant with the priests of Levi, the covenant of God -of-the-Angel-Armies. My covenant with Levi was to give life and peace. I kept my covenant with him, and he honored me. He stood in reverent awe before me. He taught the truth and did not lie. He walked with me in peace and uprightness. He kept many out of the ditch, kept them on the road. ⁷"It's the job of priests to teach the truth. People are supposed to look to them for guidance. The priest is the messenger of God -of-the-Angel-Armies. But you priests have abandoned the way of priests. Your teaching has messed up many lives. You have corrupted the covenant of priest Levi. God -of-the-Angel-Armies says so. And so I am showing you up for who you are. Everyone will be disgusted with you and avoid you because you don't live the way I told you to live, and you don't teach my revelation truly and impartially."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

ye will not hear: Leviticus 26:14-46, Deuteronomy 28:15-68, Deuteronomy 30:17, Deuteronomy 30:18, Psalms 81:11, Psalms 81:12, Isaiah 30:8-13, Jeremiah 6:16-20, Jeremiah 13:17, Jeremiah 25:4-9, Jeremiah 34:17, Ezekiel 3:7, Zechariah 1:3-6, Zechariah 7:11-14

if ye will not lay: Isaiah 42:25, Isaiah 47:7, Isaiah 57:11

to give: Joshua 7:19, Jeremiah 13:16, Luke 17:18, 1 Peter 4:11, Revelation 14:7, Revelation 16:9

and I: Deuteronomy 28:16-18, Deuteronomy 28:53-57, Psalms 69:22, Psalms 109:7-15, Hosea 4:7-10, Hosea 9:11-14, Haggai 1:6, Haggai 1:9, Haggai 2:16, Haggai 2:17, Luke 23:28-30

I have cursed: By sending them unfruitful seasons, Malachi 3:9

Reciprocal: Exodus 7:23 - neither Numbers 31:23 - abide Deuteronomy 28:17 - General Deuteronomy 28:20 - send 1 Samuel 6:5 - give glory 1 Samuel 25:25 - regard Nehemiah 5:2 - our sons Job 20:14 - his meat Job 20:23 - he is about Job 24:18 - their portion Psalms 79:9 - for the Psalms 111:9 - holy Psalms 132:15 - bless her provision Proverbs 3:33 - curse Proverbs 20:21 - but Ecclesiastes 2:24 - that it Ecclesiastes 7:2 - living Isaiah 24:6 - hath Jeremiah 12:11 - layeth Daniel 1:15 - their Nahum 3:6 - I will cast John 2:11 - beginning Revelation 11:13 - gave

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.

Genesis 2:8
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.

Exodus 23:12
"Work for six days and rest the seventh so your ox and donkey may rest and your servant and migrant workers may have time to get their needed rest.

Isaiah 58:13
"If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my holy day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, God 's holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,' making money, running here and there— Then you'll be free to enjoy God ! Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all. I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob." Yes! God says so!

John 5:17
But Jesus defended himself. "My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I."

Hebrews 4:4
When the Promises Are Mixed with Faith For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we don't have faith. Remember that God said, Exasperated, I vowed, "They'll never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest." God made that vow, even though he'd finished his part before the foundation of the world. Somewhere it's written, "God rested the seventh day, having completed his work," but in this other text he says, "They'll never be able to sit down and rest." So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David's psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don't turn a deaf ear... And so this is still a live promise. It wasn't canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn't keep renewing the appointment for "today." The promise of "arrival" and "rest" is still there for God's people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we'll surely rest with God. So let's keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience. God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what. Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If ye will not hear,.... The commandment enjoined them; or the Gospel preached to them by Christ, and his apostles:

and if ye will not lay [it] to heart to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts; which they had despised and profaned before; if they did not take care of his worship and service, and honour the Messiah sent unto them, in whom the name of the Lord was:

I will even send a curse upon you; both upon priests and people; those that bring the bad offerings, and those that receive them, as Kimchi; though Abarbinel restrains it to the priests:

and I will curse your blessings, either with which the priests blessed the people; or with which both they and the people were blessed; namely, their temporal blessings, such as their corn, and wine, and oil: and what wicked men have of this world, they have it with a curse, and not a blessing, as the righteous have; and therefore a little which they have, is better than much enjoyed by the wicked,

Psalms 37:16:

yea, I have cursed them already; that is, from the time they began to despise his name, and not give him the glory due unto him, as Kimchi and Abarbinel explain it:

because ye do not lay [it] to heart; to glorify God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If ye will not lay to heart - , namely, the rebukes addressed to them, “to give glory to God.” For the glory of God is the end and aim of the priesthood. This should be the principle and rule of their whole life, “to the greater glory of God.” “I will send the curse upon you,” namely, that which He had threatened in the law upon disobedience; and will “curse your blessings,” will turn your blessings into a curse. He does not say, I will send you curses instead of blessings, but, I will make the blessings themselves a curse. Psalms 69:23. “The things which should have been to their wealth became to them an occasion of falling;” to the proud, the things which lift them up; to the gluttonous, their abundance; to the avaricious, their wealth; which, if used to the glory of God, become blessings, do, when self not God is their end, by God’s dispensation and Providence, become a curse to them. “The goods of nature, the goods of fortune, the goods of the Church allowed to you, I will turn to your greater damnation, permitting you to abuse them to pride; and your damnation shall be the more penal, the more good things ye have received from Me. Whence Christ declares in the Gospel Luke 12:48, ‘Unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required. ‘“

Yea, I have cursed them - (literally, it), i. e., each one of the blessings, “already.” God’s judgments as well as His mercies are individual with a minute care, showing that it is His doing. The curse had already gone forth, and had begun to seize upon them from the time that they began to despise His Name. His judgments do not break in at once, but little by little, with warnings of their approach, that so we may turn to Him, and “escape the wrath to come.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Malachi 2:2. If ye will not hear — What I have spoken, lay it to heart, and let it sink down into your souls.

Give glory unto my name — That honour that is due to me as a Father, and that fear that belongs to me as a Master, Malachi 1:6.

I will even send a curse upon you — I will dispense no more good.

I will curse your blessings — Even that which ye have already shall not profit you. When temporal blessings are not the means of leading us to God and heaven, they will infallibly lead us to hell. In speaking of the abuse of temporal blessings, one of our old poets, in his homely phrase, expresses himself thus, -

Thus God's best gifts, usurped by wicked ones,

To poison turn by their con-ta-gi-ons.

Yea, I have cursed them already — This may refer, generally, to unfruitful seasons; or, particularly, to a dearth that appears to have happened about this time. See Haggai 1:6-11.