Study Desk

The ^[a](a)oracle of the word of the Lord to ^(b)Israel through ^[b]Malachi.

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

but I have hated Esau, and I have ^(e)made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness."

Though Edom says, "We have been ^(f)beaten down, but we will ^[c](g)return and build up the ruins"; thus says the Lord of hosts, "They may ^(h)build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the ^[d]wicked territory, and the people ^[e]toward whom the Lord is indignant ⁽ⁱ⁾forever."

Your eyes will see this and you will say, "^(j)The Lord ^[f]be magnified beyond the ^[g]border of Israel!"

"‘A son ^(k)honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a ^(l)father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My ^[h]respect?' says the Lord of hosts to you, O ^(m)priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?'

You are presenting ⁽ⁿ⁾defiled ^[i](o)food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?' In that you say, ‘The ^(p)table of the Lord is to be despised.'

But when you present the ^(q)blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? ^[j]Why not offer it to your ^(r)governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?" says the Lord of hosts.

"But now ^[k]will you not ^(s)entreat God's favor, that He may be gracious to us? ^[l]With such an offering on your part, will He ^(t)receive any of you kindly?" says the Lord of hosts.

"Oh that there were one among you who would ^(u)shut the ^[m]gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you," says the Lord of hosts, "^(v)nor will I accept an offering from ^[n]you.

For from the ^(w)rising of the sun even to its setting, ^(x)My name will be ^(y)great among the nations, and in every place ^(z)incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be ^(aa)great among the nations," says the Lord of hosts.

"But you are ^(ab)profaning it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.'

You also say, ‘^[o]My, how ^(ac)tiresome it is!' And you disdainfully sniff at it," says the Lord of hosts, "and you bring what was taken by ^(ad)robbery and what is ^(ae)lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I ^(af)receive that from your hand?" says the Lord .

"But cursed be the ^(ag)swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a ^(ah)blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great ^(ai)King," says the Lord of hosts, "and My name is ^[p](aj)feared among the ^[q]nations."

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

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

Behold, I am going to ^(d)rebuke your ^[a]offspring, and I will ^(e)spread ^[b]refuse on your faces, the ^[c]refuse of your ^(f)feasts; and you will be taken away ^[d]with it.

Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, ^[e]that My ^(g)covenant may ^[f]continue with Levi," says the Lord of hosts.

"My covenant with him was one of life and ^(h)peace, and I gave them to him as an object of ^[g]reverence; so he ^[h](i)revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

^[i](j)True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked ^(k)with Me in peace and uprightness, and he ^(l)turned many back from iniquity.

For the lips of a priest should preserve ^(m)knowledge, and ^[j]men should ⁽ⁿ⁾seek ^[k]instruction from his mouth; for he is the ^(o)messenger of the Lord of hosts.

But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to ^(p)stumble ^[l]by the instruction; you have ^[m](q)corrupted the covenant of Levi," says the Lord of hosts.

"So ^(r)I also have made you despised and ^(s)abased ^[n]before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing ^(t)partiality in the ^[o]instruction.

"Do we not all have ^(u)one father? ^(v)Has not one God created us? Why do we deal ^(w)treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the ^(x)covenant of our fathers?

Judah has dealt ^(y)treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has ^(z)profaned the sanctuary of the Lord ^[p]which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

As for the man who does this, may the ^(aa) Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who ^(ab)presents ^[q]an offering to the Lord of hosts.

"This is ^[r]another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He ^(ac)no longer regards the ^[s]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 ^(ad)wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt ^(ae)treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

^[t]But not one has ^(af)done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And ^[u]what did that one do while he was seeking a ^(ag)godly ^[v]offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal ^(ah)treacherously against the wife of your youth.

For ^[w]I hate ^[x](ai)divorce," says the Lord , the God of Israel, "and ^[y]him who covers his garment with ^[z](aj)wrong," says the Lord of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously."

You have ^(ak)wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "^(al)Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord , and He ^(am)delights in them," or, "^(an)Where is the God of ^(ao)justice?"

"^(a)Behold, I am going to send ^(b)My ^[a]messenger, and he will ^[b](c)clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; ^[c]and the ^[d](d)messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the Lord of hosts.

"But who can ^(e)endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^(f)refiner's fire and like ^[e]fullers' soap.

He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will ^(g)purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^(h)present to the Lord ^[f]offerings in righteousness.

Then the ^[g]offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ⁽ⁱ⁾pleasing to the Lord as in the ^(j)days of old and as in former years.

"Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the ^(k)sorcerers and against the ^(l)adulterers and against those who ^(m)swear falsely, and against those who oppress the ⁽ⁿ⁾wage earner in his wages, the ^(o)widow and the ^[h]orphan, and those who turn aside the ^[i](p)alien and do not ^[j]fear Me," says the Lord of hosts.

"For ^[k]I, the Lord , ^(q)do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, ^[l]are not consumed.

"From the ^(r)days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. ^(s)Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts. "But you say, ‘How shall we return?'

"Will a man ^[m]rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?' In ^(t)tithes and ^[n]offerings.

You are ^(u)cursed with a curse, for you are ^[o]robbing Me, the whole nation of you!

^(v)Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be ^[p]food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not ^(w)open for you the windows of heaven and ^(x)pour out for you a blessing until ^[q](y)it overflows.

Then I will rebuke the ^(z)devourer for you, so that it will not ^[r]destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes," says the Lord of hosts.

"^(aa)All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a ^(ab)delightful land," says the Lord of hosts.

"Your words have been ^[s]arrogant against Me," says the Lord . "Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?'

You have said, ‘It is ^(ac)vain to serve God; and what ^(ad)profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts?

So now we ^(ae)call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and ^(af)escape.'"

Then those who ^[t]feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord ^(ag)gave attention and heard it, and a ^(ah)book of remembrance was written before Him for those who ^[u]fear the Lord and who esteem His name.

"They will be ^(ai)Mine," says the Lord of hosts, "on the ^(aj)day that I ^[v]prepare My ^[w](ak)own possession, and I will ^[x]spare them as a man ^[y](al)spares his own son who serves him."

So you will again ^(am)distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

"^[a]For behold, the day is coming, ^(a)burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be ^(b)chaff; and the day that is coming will ^(c)set them ablaze," says the Lord of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."

"But for you who ^[b]fear My name, the ^(d)sun of righteousness will rise with ^(e)healing in its wings; and you will go forth and ^(f)skip about like calves from the stall.

You will ^(g)tread down the wicked, for they will be ^(h)ashes under the soles of your feet ⁽ⁱ⁾on the day ^[c]which I am preparing," says the Lord of hosts.

"^[d](j)Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

"Behold, I am going to send you ^(k)Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord .

He will ^[e](l)restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and ^(m)smite the land with a ^[f]curse."