Study Desk

The ^(C1)pronouncement of the word of the LORD to ^(C2)Israel through ^(F1)Malachi:

"I have ^(C1)loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have You loved us?" "Was Esau not Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I ^(C2)have loved Jacob;

but I have hated Esau, and I have ^(C1)made his mountains a desolation and given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness."

Though Edom says, "We have been ^(C1)beaten down, but we will ^(F1)(C2)return and build up the ruins"; this is what the LORD of armies says: "They may ^(C3)build, but I will tear down; and people will call them the ^(F2)territory of wickedness, and the people ^(F3)with whom the LORD is indignant ^(C4)forever."

And your eyes will see this, and you will say, "^(C1)The LORD ^(F1)be exalted beyond the ^(F2)border of Israel!"

"'A son ^(C1)honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a ^(C2)father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My ^(F1)respect?' says the LORD of armies to you, the ^(C3)priests who despise My name! But you say, 'How have we despised Your name?'

"You are presenting ^(C1)defiled ^(F1)(C2)food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled You?' In that you say, 'The ^(C3)table of the LORD is to be despised.'

"And when you present a ^(C1)blind animal for sacrifice, is it not evil? Or when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not evil? So offer it to your ^(C2)governor! Would he be pleased with you, or would he receive you kindly?" says the LORD of armies.

"But now, do indeed ^(C1)plead for God's favor, so that He will be gracious to us. ^(F1)With such an offering on your part, will He ^(C2)receive any of you kindly?" says the LORD of armies.

"If only there were one among you who would ^(C1)shut the ^(F1)gates, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar for nothing! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD of armies, "^(C2)nor will I accept an offering from your hand.

"For from the ^(C1)rising of the sun even to its setting, ^(C2)My name shall be ^(C3)great among the nations, and in every place ^(C4)frankincense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name shall be ^(C5)great among the nations," says the LORD of armies.

"But you are ^(C1)profaning it by your saying, 'The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.'

"You also say, 'See, ^(F1)how ^(C1)tiresome it is!' And you view it as trivial," says the LORD of armies, "and you bring what was taken by ^(C2)robbery and what is ^(C3)lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I ^(C4)accept it from your hand?" says the LORD.

"But cursed be the ^(C1)swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a ^(C2)blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great ^(C3)King," says the LORD of armies, "and My name is ^(F1)(C4)feared among the ^(F2)nations."

"And now, this commandment is for you, the priests.

"If you do ^(C1)not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the LORD of armies, "then I will send the ^(C2)curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have ^(C3)cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

"Behold, I am going to ^(C1)rebuke your ^(F1)descendants, and I will ^(C2)spread ^(F2)dung on your faces, the ^(F2)dung of your ^(C3)feasts; and you will be taken away ^(F3)with it.

"Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, ^(F1)so that My ^(C1)covenant may ^(F2)continue with Levi," says the LORD of armies.

"My covenant with him was one of life and ^(C1)peace, and I gave them to him as an object of ^(F1)reverence; so he ^(F2)(C2)revered Me and was in awe of My name.

"^(F1)(C1)True instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked ^(C2)with Me in peace and justice, and he ^(C3)turned many back from wrongdoing.

"For the lips of a priest should maintain ^(C1)knowledge, and people should ^(C2)seek ^(F1)instruction from his mouth; for he is the ^(C3)messenger of the LORD of armies.

"But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to ^(C1)stumble ^(F1)by the instruction; you have ^(C2)ruined the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of armies.

"So ^(C1)I also have made you despised and of ^(C2)low reputation ^(F1)in the view of all the people, since you are not keeping My ways but are showing ^(C3)partiality in the ^(F2)instruction."

Do we not all have ^(C1)one Father? ^(C2)Is it not one God who has created us? Why do we deal ^(C3)treacherously, each against his brother so as to profane the ^(C4)covenant of our fathers?

Judah has dealt ^(C1)treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has ^(C2)profaned the sanctuary of the LORD ^(F1)which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

As for the man who does this, may the ^(C1)LORD eliminate from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and answers, or who ^(C2)presents ^(F1)an offering to the LORD of armies.

And this is ^(F1)another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He ^(C1)no longer gives attention to the ^(F2)offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.

Yet you say, "For what reason?" Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the ^(C1)wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt ^(C2)treacherously, though she is your marriage companion and your wife by covenant.

^(F1)But not one has ^(C1)done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And ^(F2)why the one? He was seeking a ^(C2)godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals ^(C3)treacherously against the wife of your youth.

"For ^(F1)I hate ^(F2)(C1)divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and ^(F3)him who covers his garment with ^(C2)violence," says the LORD of armies. "So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously."

You have ^(C1)wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "^(C2)Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He ^(C3)delights in them," or, "^(C4)Where is the God of ^(C5)justice?"