You have been loved by me, says the Lord. But you say, Where was your love for us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord: but Jacob was loved by me,

And your eyes will see it; and you will say, The Lord is great even outside the limits of Israel.

A son gives honour to his father, and a servant has fear of his master: if then I am a father, where is my honour? and if I am a master, where is the fear of me? says the Lord of armies to you, O priests, who give no value to my name. And you say, How have we not given value to your name?

You put unclean bread on my altar. And you say, How have we made it unclean? By your saying, The table of the Lord is of no value.

And now, make request for the grace of God so that he may have mercy on us: this has been your doing: will he give his approval to any of you? says the Lord of armies.

If only there was one among you who would see that the doors were shut, so that you might not put a light to the fire on my altar for nothing! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of armies, and I will not take an offering from your hands.

But you make it unholy by saying, The Lord's table has become unclean, and his food is of no value.

And you say, See, what a weariness it is! and you let out your breath at it, says the Lord of armies; and you have given what has been cut about by beasts, and what is damaged in its feet and ill; this is the offering you give: will this be pleasing to me from your hands? says the Lord.

See, I will have your arm cut off, and will put waste on your faces, even the waste from your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.

And you will be certain that I have sent this order to you, so that it might be my agreement with Levi, says the Lord of armies.

For it is right for the priest's lips to keep knowledge, and for men to be waiting for the law from his mouth: for he is the servant sent from the Lord of armies.

And so I have taken away your honour and made you low before all the people, even as you have not kept my ways, and have given no thought to me in using the law.

And this again you do: covering the altar of the Lord with weeping and with grief, so that he gives no more thought to the offering, and does not take it with pleasure from your hand.

But you say, For what reason? Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your early years, to whom you have been untrue, though she is your friend and the wife to whom you have given your word.

... So give thought to your spirit, and let no one be false to the wife of his early years.

For I am against the putting away of a wife, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and against him who is clothed with violent acts, says the Lord of armies: so give thought to your spirit and do not be false in your acts.

You have made the Lord tired with your words. And still you say, How have we made him tired? By your saying, Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of the Lord, and he has delight in them; or, Where is God the judge?

See, I am sending my servant, and he will make ready the way before me; and the Lord, whom you are looking for, will suddenly come to his Temple; and the angel of the agreement, in whom you have delight, see, he is coming, says the Lord of armies.

But by whom may the day of his coming be faced? and who may keep his place when he is seen? for he is like the metal-tester's fire and the cleaner's soap.

He will take his seat, testing and cleaning the sons of Levi, burning away the evil from them as from gold and silver; so that they may make offerings to the Lord in righteousness.

For I am the Lord, I am unchanged; and so you, O sons of Jacob, have not been cut off.

From the days of your fathers you have been turned away from my rules and have not kept them. Come back to me, and I will come back to you, says the Lord of armies. But you say, How are we to come back?

Will a man keep back from God what is right? But you have kept back what is mine. But you say, What have we kept back from you? Tenths and offerings.

Let your tenths come into the store-house so that there may be food in my house, and put me to the test by doing so, says the Lord of armies, and see if I do not make the windows of heaven open and send down such a blessing on you that there is no room for it.

Your words have been strong against me, says the Lord. And still you say, What have we said against you?

Then you will again see how the upright man is different from the sinner, and the servant of God from him who is not.

For see, the day is coming, it is burning like an oven; all the men of pride and all who do evil will be dry stems of grass: and in the day which is coming they will be burned up, says the Lord of armies, till they have not a root or a branch.

See, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the day of the Lord comes, that great day, greatly to be feared.