1 The aoracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.1
The Lord’s Love for Israel
2 b“I have loved you,” says the Lord. cBut you say, “How have you loved us?” d“Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet eI have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4 If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’” 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, f“Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”
The Priests’ Polluted Offerings
6 “A son ghonors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a hfather, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, iO priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, jis that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts. 9 And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have kno pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will lnot accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting mmy name will be2 great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and nvows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a ogreat King, says the Lord of hosts, and pmy name will be feared among the nations.
The Lord Rebukes the Priests
1 “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,3 and spread dung on your faces, the tdung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.4 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 instruction5 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 people6 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 descendant7 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?8 And what was the one God9 seeking?10 Godly offspring. So guard yourselves11 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,12 says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers13 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?”
The New Heaven and the New Earth
1 Then I saw a qnew heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, rnew Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a sbride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a tloud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place1 of God is with man. uHe will vdwell with them, and wthey will be his people,2 and God himself will be with them as their God.3 4 He will xwipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, y“Write this down, for zthese words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! aI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the bwater of life cwithout payment. 7 dThe one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my eson. 8 But as for fthe cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the glake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is hthe second death.”
The New Jerusalem
9 Then came one of the iseven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the jBride, the wife of the kLamb.” 10 And he lcarried me away in the Spirit mto a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance nlike a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a ogreat, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and pon the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had qtwelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve rapostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me had a smeasuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.4 Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits5 by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned twith every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has uno need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 vBy its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and wits gates will never be shut by day—and xthere will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But ynothing unclean zwill ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s abook of life.
