1 The [1]burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the ministry of Malachi.
2 I have loved you, saith the Lord: yet ye say, [2]Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob,
3 And I hated Esau, and made his mountains waste, and his heritage a wilderness for dragons.[3][4]
4 Though Edom say, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places: yet saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will destroy it, and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and the people, with whom the Lord is angry forever.
5 And your eyes shall see it, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified upon the border of Israel.
Priests Despise the Name of the Lord
6 A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is my honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear, saith the Lord of hosts unto you, [5]O Priests that despise my Name? and ye say, [6]Wherein have we despised thy Name?
7 Ye offer [7]unclean bread upon mine altar: and you say, Wherein have we polluted thee? in that ye say, The table of the Lord is not [8]to be regarded.
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is [9]not evil: and if ye offer the lame and sick, it is not evil: offer it now unto thy princes: will he be content with thee, or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts?
9 And now I pray you, [10]pray before God that he may have mercy upon us: this hath been by your means: will he regard [11]your persons, saith the Lord of hosts?
10 Who is there even among you [12]that would shut the doors, and kindle not fire on mine altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
11 For from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, my Name is [13]great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my Name, and a pure offering: for my Name is great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 But ye have polluted it, in that ye say, [14]The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof even his meat is not to be regarded.
13 Ye said also, Behold, it is a [15]weariness, and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts, and ye offered that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick: thus ye offered an offering: should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord?
14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock [16]a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my Name is terrible among the heathen.