Malachi
1 A complaint against Israel, and chiefly the Priests.
1 The [a]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, [b]Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob,
3 And I [c][d]hated Esau, and made his mountains waste, and his heritage a wilderness for dragons.
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.
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, [e]O Priests that despise my Name? and ye say, [f]Wherein have we despised thy Name?
7 Ye offer [g]unclean bread upon mine altar: and you say, Wherein have we polluted thee? in that ye say, The table of the Lord is not [h]to be regarded.
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is [i]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, [j]pray before God that he may have mercy upon us: this hath been by your means: will he regard [k]your persons, saith the Lord of hosts?
10 Who is there even among you [l]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 [m]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, [n]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 [o]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 [p]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.
Footnotes
- Malachi 1:1 Read Isa. 13:1.
- Malachi 1:2 Which declareth their great ingratitude that did not acknowledge this love, which was so evident, in that he chose Abraham from out of all the world, and next chose Jacob the younger brother of whom they came, and left Esau the elder.
- Malachi 1:3 For beside here the signs of mine hatred appeared even when he was made servant unto his younger brother, being yet in his mother’s belly, and also afterward in that he was put from his birthright, yet even now before your eyes the signs hereof are evident, in that that his country lieth waste and he shall never return to inhabit.
- Malachi 1:3 Whereas ye my people, whom the enemy hated more than them, are by my grace and love toward you delivered, read Rom. 9:13.
- Malachi 1:6 Besides the rest of the people he condemneth the Priests chiefly, because they should have reproved others for their hypocrisy, and obstinacy against God, and not have hardened them by their example to greater evils.
- Malachi 1:6 He noteth their gross hypocrisy, which would not see their faults, but most impudently covered them, and so were blind guides.
- Malachi 1:7 Ye receive all manner offerings for your own greediness, and do not examine whether they be according to my Law, or no.
- Malachi 1:7 Not that they said thus, but by their doings they declared no less.
- Malachi 1:8 You make it no fault: whereby he condemneth them, that think it sufficient to serve God partly as he hath commanded, and partly after man’s fantasy: and so come not to the pureness of religion, which he requireth, and therefore in reproach he showeth them that a mortal man would not be content to be so served.
- Malachi 1:9 He derideth the Priests who bare the people in hand that they prayed for them, and showeth that they were the occasion, that these evils came upon the people.
- Malachi 1:9 Will God consider your office and state, seeing you are so covetous and wicked?
- Malachi 1:10 Because the Levites who kept the doors did not try whether the sacrifices that came in, were according to the Law, God wisheth that they would rather shut the doors, than to receive such as were not perfect.
- Malachi 1:11 God showeth that their ingratitude, and neglect of his true service shall be the cause of the calling of the Gentiles: and here the Prophet that was under the Law, framed his words to the capacity of the people, and by the altar and sacrifice he meaneth the spiritual service of God, which should be under the Gospel, when an end should be made to all these legal ceremonies by Christ’s only sacrifice.
- Malachi 1:12 Both the Priests and the people were infected with this error, that they passed not what was offered: for they thought that God was as well content with the lean, as with the fat: but in the mean season they showed not that obedience to God, which he required, and so committed both impiety, and also showed their contempt of God, and covetousness.
- Malachi 1:13 The Priests and people were both weary with serving God, and passed not what manner of sacrifice and service they gave to God: for that which was least profitable, was thought good enough for the Lord.
- Malachi 1:14 That is, hath ability to serve the Lord according to his word, and yet will serve him according to his covetous mind.