Malachi 1:6-Malachi 2:9 - An Oracle Against The Temple Priesthood

⁶ A son, will honour a father, and, a servant, his lord, - If then, a father, I am, where is mine honour? And, if, a lord, I am, where is my reverence? saith Yahweh of hosts - to you, ye priests, who despise my Name, and yet say, Wherein have we despised thy Name?

⁷ In bringing near upon mine altar, polluted food, while yet ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? Because ye say, As for the table of Yahweh, a thing to be despised, it is;

⁸ And when ye bring near the blind as a sacrifice, saying - No harm! or when ye bring near the lame or the sick saying - No harm! Offer it, I pray you, unto thy pasha, Will he accept thee? or lift up thy countenance? saith Yahweh of hosts. ⁹ Now, therefore, pacify, I pray you, the face of GOD, that he may grant us favour, - at your hands, hath this come to pass, Will he lift up the countenances, of any of you? saith Yahweh of hosts. ¹⁰ Who is there, even among you, that will shut the doors, so as not to set light to mine altar, for nothing? I can take no pleasure in you, saith Yahweh of hosts, and, your present, can I not accept at your hand.

¹¹ For, from the rising of the sun, even unto the going in thereof, great is my Name among the nations, and, in every place, incense, is offered to my Name, and a pure present, - for great is my Name among the nations, saith Yahweh of hosts.

¹² But ye are profaning me, - in that ye say, As for the table of the Lord, polluted it is, and, as for his produce, contemptible is his food. ¹³ And ye have said, Lo! what a weariness! And ye have snuffed at Me, saith Yahweh of hosts, and have brought in the torn and the lame and the sick, thus have ye brought the present, - Could I accept it at your hand? saith Yahweh.

¹⁴ But accursed is he that defraudeth, who, when there is in his flock a male, yet voweth and sacrificeth a corrupt thing to the Lord, for, a great king, am I, saith Yahweh of hosts, and, my Name, is revered among the nations.

¹ Now, therefore, for you, is this charge, O ye priests: - ² If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my Name, saith Yahweh of hosts, then will I send among you the curse, and will curse your blessings, - and indeed I have cursed them, because ye are not at all laying it to heart.

³ Behold me! threatening, on your account, the seed, and I will scatter refuse upon your faces, the refuse of your festivals, - and one shall carry you away unto it; ⁴ So shall ye know that I sent unto you this charge, - as being my covenant with Levi, saith Yahweh of hosts. ⁵ My covenant, was with him, Life and Well-being, so I gave them to him - I as One to be revered - and he did revere me, - and, before my Name, dismayed, was he. ⁶ The deliverance of truth, was in his mouth, and, perverseness, was not found in his lips, - In well-doing and in uprightness, walked he with me, and, multitudes, did he turn from iniquity. ⁷ For, the lips of a priest, should keep knowledge, and, a deliverance, should men seek at his mouth, - for, the messenger of Yahweh of hosts, he is.

⁸ But, ye, have departed out of the way, ye have caused multitudes to stumble at the deliverance, - ye have violated the covenant of Levi, saith Yahweh of hosts. ⁹ Therefore, I also, will suffer you to be despised and of no account unto all the people, - in proportion as none of you have been keeping my ways, but have had respect to persons, in giving your deliverance.