Malachi 2
2 1And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
2If 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.
3Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung upon your
faces, even the dung of your feasts; and ye shall be taken away with it.
4And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my
covenant may be with Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts.
5My 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.
6The law of truth was in his
mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in
peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity.
7For the
priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his
mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.
8But ye are turned
aside out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have
corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts.
9Therefore have I
also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye
have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law.
10Have
we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal
treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our
fathers?
11Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of
Jehovah which he loveth, and hath married the daughter of a foreign god.
12Jehovah will cut off, to the man that doeth this, him that waketh and
him that answereth, out of the tents of Jacob, and him that offereth an
offering unto Jehovah of hosts.
13And this again ye do: ye cover the
altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that he
regardeth not the offering any more, neither receiveth it with good will at
your hand.
14Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been witness
between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt
treacherously, though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
15And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And
wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit,
and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
16For I
hate putting away, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, and him that covereth
his garment with violence, saith Jehovah of hosts: therefore take heed to
your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
17Ye have wearied Jehovah
with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? In that ye say,
Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth
in them; or where is the God of justice?