1 This ·message [oracle; burden] is the word of the Lord given to Israel through Malachi [^C“my messenger”].

God Loves Israel

² The Lord said, “I have loved you.”

But you ask, “How have you loved us?”

The Lord said, “Esau and Jacob were brothers. I loved Jacob, ³ but I ·hated [rejected] Esau [Gen. 25:19–34]. I ·destroyed [laid waste] his mountain country and left his ·land [inheritance] to the ·wild dogs [jackals] of the ·desert [wilderness].”

⁴ The people of Edom [^Ldescendants of Esau] might say, “We were ·destroyed [crushed; shattered], but we will go back and rebuild the ruins.”

But the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts] says, “If they rebuild them, I will ·destroy [demolish] them. ·People will say, ‘Edom is a wicked country. The Lord is always angry with the Edomites.’ [or They will be known as, ‘The Wicked Land’ and ‘The people always under God’s wrath.’] ⁵ You will see these things with your own eyes. And you will say, ‘The Lord is great, even ·outside [beyond] the borders of Israel!’”

The Priests Don’t Respect God

⁶ The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts] says, “A son honors his father [Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16], and a ·servant [slave] honors his master.” ·I am a [^LIf I am your] father, so why don’t you honor me? ·I am a [^LIf I am your] master, so why don’t you respect me? You priests ·do not respect me [^Ldespise my name].

“But you ask, ‘How have we ·shown you disrespect [^Ldespised your name]?’

⁷ “You have shown it by bringing ·unclean [defiled] food to my altar.

“But you ask, ‘What makes it ·unclean [defiled]?’

“It is ·unclean [defiled] because you ·don’t respect [treat as contemptible] the altar of the Lord. ⁸ When you ·bring [offer] blind animals as sacrifices, ·that is [^Lis that not…?] wrong. When you ·bring [offer] crippled and sick animals, ·that is [^Lis that not…?] wrong [Lev. 1:3]. Try giving them to your governor. Would he be pleased with you? ·He wouldn’t [^LWould he…?] accept you,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts].

⁹ “Now ·ask [plead with] God to ·be kind [show favor] to you, but he won’t ·accept [show favor to] you with such offerings,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts].

¹⁰ “I wish one of you would close the Temple doors so that you would not light ·useless [worthless; meaningless] fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you and will not accept ·your gifts [^Lan offering from your hand],” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts]. ¹¹ “From the east to the west ·I [^Lmy name] will be honored among the nations. Everywhere they will bring incense and ·clean [pure; undefiled] offerings to me, because ·I will be honored [^Lmy name will be great] among the nations,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts].

¹² “But you ·don’t honor [profane] me. You say about the Lord’s ·altar [table], ‘It is ·unclean [defiled], and the food ·has no worth [is despicable/contemptible].’ ¹³ You say, ‘We are tired of doing this,’ and you ·sniff [sneer] at it in disgust,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts].

“And you bring ·hurt [or stolen], crippled, and sick animals as gifts. You bring them as ·gifts [offerings], but I won’t accept them from ·you [^Lyour hands],” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “The person who cheats will be cursed. He has a male animal in his flock and promises to offer it, but then he offers to the Lord an animal that ·has something wrong with it [is blemished; Lev. 1:3]. I am a great king,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], “and ·I am [my name is] feared ·by all [among] the nations.