Malachi 1:1-8 ▼

1 This is a divine revelation. The LORD spoke his word to Israel through Malachi.

2 |I loved you,| says the LORD. |But you ask, 'How did you love us?' |Wasn't Esau Jacob's brother?| declares the LORD. |I loved Jacob,

3 but Esau I hated. I turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the jackals in the desert.

4 |The descendants of Esau may say, 'We have been beaten down, but we will rebuild the ruins.' |Yet, this is what the LORD of Armies says: They may rebuild, but I will tear it down. They will be called 'the Wicked Land' and 'the people with whom the LORD is always angry.'

5 You will see these things with your own eyes and say, 'Even outside the borders of Israel the LORD is great.'

6 |This is what the LORD of Armies says: A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. So if I am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is my respect? You priests despise my name. |But you ask, 'How have we despised your name?'

7 |You offer contaminated food on my altar. |But you ask, 'Then how have we contaminated you?' |When you say that the LORD's table may be despised.

8 When you bring a blind animal to sacrifice, isn't that wrong? When you bring a lame or a sick animal, isn't that wrong? Try offering it to your governor. Would he accept it from you? Would he welcome you?| asks the LORD of Armies.