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Malachi 2
Complete Jewish Bible
Malachi 2
Complete Jewish Bible
2 “Now, cohanim, this command is for you.
2 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.
3 I will reject your seed;
I will throw dung in your faces,
the dung from your festival offerings;
and you will be carted off with it.
4 Then you will know that I sent you this command
to affirm my covenant with Levi,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
5 “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.
6 The true Torah was in his mouth,
and no dishonesty was found on his lips;
he walked with me in peace and uprightness
and turned many away from sin.
7 A cohen’s lips should safeguard knowledge,
and people should seek Torah from his mouth,
because he is the messenger
of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
8 But you turned away from the path,
you caused many to fail in the Torah,
you corrupted the covenant of Levi,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
9 “Therefore I have in turn made you
contemptible and vile before all the people,
because you did not keep my ways
but were partial in applying the Torah.”
10 Don’t we all have the same father?
Didn’t one God create us all?
Then why do we break faith with each other,
profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
11 Y’hudah has broken faith;
an abomination has been committed
in Isra’el and Yerushalayim.
For Y’hudah has profaned the sanctuary
of Adonai, which he loves,
by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.
12 If a man does this and presents an offering
to Adonai-Tzva’ot, may Adonai cut him off
from the tents of Ya‘akov,
whether initiator or follower.
13 Here is something else you do:
you cover Adonai’s altar with tears,
with weeping and with sighing,
because he no longer looks at the offering
or receives your gift with favor.
14 Nevertheless, you ask, “Why is this?”
Because Adonai is witness
between you and the wife of your youth
that you have broken faith with her,
though she is your companion, your wife by covenant.
15 And hasn’t he made [them] one [flesh]
in order to have spiritual blood-relatives?
For what the one [flesh] seeks
is a seed from God.
Therefore, take heed to your spirit,
and don’t break faith with the wife of your youth.
16 “For I hate divorce,”
says Adonai the God of Isra’el,
“and him who covers his clothing with violence,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
and don’t break faith.
17 You have wearied Adonai with your words.
Yet you ask, “How have we wearied him?”
By saying that anyone who does wrong
is good from Adonai’s perspective,
and that he is delighted with them;
or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
Malachi 2
New International Version
Malachi 2
New International Version
Additional Warning to the Priests
2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.(A) 2 If you do not listen,(B) and if you do not resolve to honor(C) my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse(D) on you, and I will curse your blessings.(E) Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants[a]; I will smear on your faces the dung(F) from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.(G) 4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi(H) may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant(I) of life and peace,(J) and I gave them to him; this called for reverence(K) and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction(L) was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked(M) with me in peace(N) and uprightness,(O) and turned many from sin.(P)
7 “For the lips of a priest(Q) ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger(R) of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.(S) 8 But you have turned from the way(T) and by your teaching have caused many to stumble;(U) you have violated the covenant(V) with Levi,”(W) says the Lord Almighty. 9 “So I have caused you to be despised(X) and humiliated(Y) before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality(Z) in matters of the law.”(AA)
Breaking Covenant Through Divorce
10 Do we not all have one Father[b]?(AB) Did not one God create us?(AC) Why do we profane the covenant(AD) of our ancestors by being unfaithful(AE) to one another?
11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable(AF) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves(AG) by marrying(AH) women who worship a foreign god.(AI) 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove(AJ) him from the tents of Jacob[c](AK)—even though he brings an offering(AL) to the Lord Almighty.
13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.(AM) You weep and wail(AN) because he no longer looks with favor(AO) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.(AP) 14 You ask,(AQ) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness(AR) between you and the wife of your youth.(AS) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.(AT)
15 Has not the one God made you?(AU) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.[d](AV) So be on your guard,(AW) and do not be unfaithful(AX) to the wife of your youth.
16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,(AY)” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”[e](AZ) says the Lord Almighty.
So be on your guard,(BA) and do not be unfaithful.
Breaking Covenant Through Injustice
17 You have wearied(BB) the Lord with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.(BC)
By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased(BD) with them” or “Where is the God of justice?(BE)”
Footnotes
- Malachi 2:3 Or will blight your grain
- Malachi 2:10 Or father
- Malachi 2:12 Or 12 May the Lord remove from the tents of Jacob anyone who gives testimony in behalf of the man who does this
- Malachi 2:15 The meaning of the Hebrew for the first part of this verse is uncertain.
- Malachi 2:16 Or “I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “because the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,”
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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