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Priests to Be Disciplined

¹ "And now this commandment is for you, O priests.² "If you do ^(C1)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 ^(C2)curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have ^(C3)cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.³ "Behold, I am going to ^(C1)rebuke your ^(F1)offspring, and I will ^(C2)spread ^(F2)refuse on your faces, the ^(F2)refuse of your ^(C3)feasts; and you will be taken away ^(F3)with it.⁴ "Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, ^(F1)that My ^(C1)covenant may ^(F2)continue with Levi," says the LORD of hosts.⁵ "My covenant with him was one of life and ^(C1)peace, and I gave them to him as an object of ^(F1)reverence; so he ^(F2)(C2)revered Me and stood in awe of My name.⁶ "^(F1)(C1)True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked ^(C2)with Me in peace and uprightness, and he ^(C3)turned many back from iniquity.⁷ "For the lips of a priest should preserve ^(C1)knowledge, and ^(F1)men should ^(C2)seek ^(F2)instruction from his mouth; for he is the ^(C3)messenger of the LORD of hosts.⁸ "But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to ^(C1)stumble ^(F1)by the instruction; you have ^(F2)(C2)corrupted the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of hosts.⁹ "So ^(C1)I also have made you despised and ^(C2)abased ^(F1)before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing ^(C3)partiality in the ^(F2)instruction.

Sin in the Family

¹⁰ "Do we not all have ^(C1)one father? ^(C2)Has not one God created us? Why do we deal ^(C3)treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the ^(C4)covenant of our fathers?¹¹ "Judah has dealt ^(C1)treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has ^(C2)profaned the sanctuary of the LORD ^(F1)which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god.¹² "As for the man who does this, may the ^(C1)LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who ^(C2)presents ^(F1)an offering to the LORD of hosts.

¹³ "This is ^(F1)another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He ^(C1)no longer regards the ^(F2)offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.¹⁴ "Yet you say, 'For what reason?' Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the ^(C1)wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt ^(C2)treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.¹⁵ "^(F1)But not one has ^(C1)done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And ^(F2)what did that one do while he was seeking a ^(C2)godly ^(F3)offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal ^(C3)treacherously against the wife of your youth.¹⁶ "For ^(F1)I hate ^(F2)(C1)divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and ^(F3)him who covers his garment with ^(F4)(C2)wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously."

¹⁷ You have ^(C1)wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "^(C2)Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He ^(C3)delights in them," or, "^(C4)Where is the God of ^(C5)justice?"