Malachi 1

1The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of His messenger Malachi. Take it to heart!

2'I have loved you,' says the Lord. 'But you say, 'In what way have You loved us?' Was not Esau the brother of Jacob?' says the Lord. 'Yet Jacob I have loved,

3but Esau I have hated, and I have appointed his borders for destruction and made his heritage as dwellings of the wilderness.'

4Because one will say, 'Edom has been destroyed, but let us return and rebuild the desolate places,' thus says the Lord, Ruler of all: 'They may build, but I will throw down. They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, and the people against whom the Lord has placed Himself forever.

5Your eyes will see, and you will say, 'The Lord is magnified beyond the borders of Israel.'

6'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then, I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the reverence due to me?' says the Lord Almighty. 'You priests are the ones who disparage My name, yet you say, 'In what way have we disparaged Your name?'

7You offer defiled bread on My altar, but you say, 'How have we defiled You?' By saying, 'The table of the Lord is contemptible and the food placed upon it is contemptible.'

8And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is that not evil? Offer it then to your ruler! See if he will accept it, if he will accept it favorably,' says the Lord Almighty.

9'But now earnestly entreat the face of your God and pray to Him. These things have been done by your hands; shall I accept these from you?' says the Lord Almighty.

10'For this reason, even among you the doors will be shut, and you will not burn an offering on My altar. I have no pleasure in you,' says the Lord Almighty, 'nor will I accept an offering from your hands.

11For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, My name has been glorified among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering, for My name shall be great among the Gentiles,' says the Lord Almighty.

12'But you profane it in that you say, 'The table of the Lord is defiled; and the food placed upon it is contemptible.'

13And you said, 'Oh, what a weariness!' And I have blown these away,' says the Lord Almighty. 'And you bring prey, the lame, and the sick, and when you bring an offering, should I accept these from your hands?' says the Lord Almighty.

14'But cursed be the man who is able, who has in his flock a male, and takes a vow but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—for I am a great King,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and My name is glorious among the nations.