"I have loved you," says Yahweh, but you say, "How have you loved us?" "[Is] Esau not Jacob's brother?" {declares} Yahweh. "I have loved Jacob,

Your eyes will see [this], and you will say, "Yahweh is great beyond the borders of Israel."

"A son honors [his] father, and a slave his master; but if I [am] a father, where [is] my honor, and if I [am] a master, where [is] my reverence?" says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests, {who despise} my name. "But you say, 'How have we despised your name?'

So then, {implore the favor of God} so that he will be gracious to us. "{This is what you have done}. {Will he show favor to any of you}?" says Yahweh of hosts.

"Who also among you will shut [the temple] doors [so that] you will not kindle fire in vain [on] my altar? I take no pleasure in you," says Yahweh of hosts, "and {I will not accept} an offering from your hand.

And you say, 'Look! [This is] a weariness,' and you sniff [with disdain] at it," says Yahweh of hosts. "And you bring [the] stolen, the lame, and the one that is sick--[this] you bring as the offering! Should I {accept it} from your hand?" says Yahweh.

"And so then, O priests, this command [is] for you:

You have wearied Yahweh with your words, but you ask, "With what have we wearied [him]?" [You have done so] {when you say}, "Everyone who does evil [is] good in the {sight} of Yahweh, and in them he delights," or "Where [is] the God of justice?"

And who [can] endure the day of his coming? And who [is] the one who can stand {when he appears}? For he [is] like a refiner's fire, like launderers' alkali.

From the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my rules, and have not kept [them]! Return to me and I will return to you," says Yahweh of hosts, "but you say, 'How shall we return?'

Will a human [dare to] rob God? Yet you [are] robbing me! And you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In the tithes and the contributions!

Bring the whole tithe to {the storehouse}, so that there will be food in my house, and test me please in this," says Yahweh of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you {an overflowing blessing}.

"Your words have been harsh against me," says Yahweh. "But you say, 'How have we spoken together against you?'

You will return and see [the difference] between [the] righteous and [the] wicked, between [the one who] serves God and the one who does not serve him.

And he will bring back [the] hearts of [the] fathers to [the] sons, and the hearts of [the] sons to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land [with] a ban."