Malachi 2

¹And now, O priests , this command is for you.

²If 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 the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings . Indeed , I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart .

³Behold , I will rebuke your offspring , and spread dung on your faces , the dung of your offerings , and you shall be taken away with it.

⁴So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts .

⁵My covenant with him was one of life and peace , and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear , and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name .

⁶True instruction was in his mouth , and no wrong was found on his lips . He walked with me in peace and uprightness , and he turned many from iniquity .

⁷For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge , and people should seek instruction from his mouth , for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts .

⁸But you have turned aside from the way . You have caused many to stumble by your instruction . You have corrupted the covenant of Levi , says the Lord of hosts ,

⁹and so I make you despised and abased before all the people , inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction .

¹⁰Have we not all one Father ? Has not one God created us? Why then are faithless to one another , profaning the covenant of our fathers ?

¹¹Judah has been faithless , and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem . For Judah 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 descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts !

¹³And this second thing you do . You 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 .

¹⁴But you say , Why does he not? Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth , to whom you have been faithless , though she is your companion and your wife by covenant .

¹⁵Did he not make them one , with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking ? Godly offspring . So guard yourselves in your spirit , and let none of you faithless to the wife of your youth .

¹⁶For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel , covers his garment with violence , says the Lord of hosts . So guard yourselves in your spirit , and do not be faithless .

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