The Lord Rebukes the Priests

¹“And now, yO priests, zthis command is for you. ²aIf 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 bthe curse upon you and I will curse cyour blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. ³Behold, dI will rebuke your offspring,1 and espread dung on your faces, the fdung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.2 ⁴So shall you know that I have sent gthis command to you, that hmy covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. ⁵My covenant with him was one of life and ipeace, and I gave them to him. jIt was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. ⁶kTrue instruction3 was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he lturned many from iniquity. ⁷For mthe lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people4 should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. ⁸But you have turned aside from the way. nYou have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted othe covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, ⁹and so pI make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but qshow partiality in your instruction.”

Judah Profaned the Covenant

¹⁰Have we not all rone Father? Has not sone God created us? Why then are we tfaithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹Judah has been tfaithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For uJudah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹²May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant5 of the man who does this, who vbrings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³And this second thing you do. wYou 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. ¹⁴xBut you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ywas witness between you and the wife of your youth, zto whom tyou have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ¹⁵aDid he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?6 And what was the one God7 seeking?8 bGodly offspring. So guard yourselves9 in your spirit, and let none of you be tfaithless to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶“For cthe man who does not love his wife but divorces her,10 says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers11 his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and tdo not be faithless.”

The Messenger of the Lord

¹⁷dYou have wearied the Lord with your words. xBut you say, “How have we wearied him?” eBy saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, f“Where is the God of justice?”