The Lord Rebukes the Priests

2 “And now, ^qO priests, this command is for you. 2 ^rIf you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, ^sI have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring,¹ and spread dung on your faces, the ^tdung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.² 4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my ^ucovenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and ^vpeace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 ^wTrue instruction³ was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For the ^xlips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people⁴ should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have ^yturned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but ^zshow partiality in your instruction.”

Judah Profaned the Covenant

10 ^aHave we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been ^bfaithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has ^cmarried the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant⁵ of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them ^done, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?⁶ And what was the one God⁷ seeking?⁸ Godly offspring. So guard yourselves⁹ in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but ^edivorces her,¹⁰ says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers¹¹ his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

The Messenger of the Lord

17 You have ^fwearied the Lord with your ^gwords. ^hBut you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, ⁱ“Where is the God of justice?”

3 ^j“Behold, I send my messenger, and ^khe will ^lprepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But ^mwho can endure the day of his coming, and ⁿwho can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them ^olike gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.¹ 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the ^psorcerers, against the ^qadulterers, against those who ^rswear falsely, against those who ^soppress the hired worker in his wages, the ^twidow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the ^usojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Robbing God

6 “For I the Lord ^vdo not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. ^wReturn to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^xBut you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 ^yYou are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. ^zAnd thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer² for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of ^adelight, says the Lord of hosts.

13 ^b“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a ^cbook of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my ^dtreasured possession, and I will spare them ^eas a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

The Great Day of the Lord

4 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them ^fneither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall ^grise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules¹ that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, ^hI will send you Elijah the prophet before the ⁱgreat and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 ^jAnd he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^kstrike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”²

Matthew

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1 The ^abook of the genealogy of Jesus ^bChrist, the ^cson of David, the ^dson of Abraham.

2 ^eAbraham was the father of Isaac, and ^fIsaac the father of Jacob, and ^gJacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and ^hJudah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,¹ 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by ⁱRahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and ^jJesse the father of David the king.

And ^kDavid was the father of Solomon by the ^lwife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,² 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,³ and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the ^mdeportation to Babylon.

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,⁴ and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of ⁿJoseph the husband of Mary, ^oof whom Jesus was born, who is ^pcalled Christ.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 ^qNow the birth of Jesus Christ⁵ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been ^rbetrothed⁶ to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child ^sfrom the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to ^tdivorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an ^uangel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall ^vcall his name Jesus, for he will ^wsave his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place ^xto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

(which means, ^cGod ^dwith us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but ^eknew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

The Visit of the Wise Men

2 Now after Jesus was ^fborn in Bethlehem of Judea ^gin the days of Herod the king, behold, ^hwise men^{1 i}from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born ^jking of the Jews? For we saw his ^kstar when it rose² and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the ^lChrist was to be born. 5 They told him, ^m“In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, ^pgold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an ^qangel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and ^rflee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, ^sto destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was ^tto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ^u“Out of Egypt I called ^vmy son.”

Herod Kills the Children

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the ^wmale children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

The Return to Nazareth

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ^ythose who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a ^zNazarene.