Jacob Loved Adonai
1 An oracle[a]: The word of Adonai to Israel by Malachi[b].
2 “I loved you,” says Adonai.
But you say: “How have you loved us?”
“Was Esau not Jacob’s brother?”
—it is the declaration of Adonai—
“Yet I loved Jacob 3 and Esau I hated.
I made his hills a wasteland
and gave his inheritance to jackals of the wilderness.”
4 For Edom may say,
“We have been beaten down,
but we will return and rebuild the ruins.”
Thus Adonai-Tzva’ot says:
“They may rebuild but I will tear down.
They will be called a wicked territory,
the people Adonai denounced forever.
5 So you will see, and you will say:
‘May Adonai be magnified beyond the border of Israel!’”
Despicable Sacrifices
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. So if I am Father, where is My honor? If I am Master, where is My reverence?”—says Adonai-Tzva’ot—“you, kohanim who despise My Name!”
But you say, “How did we despise Your Name?”
7 “By offering defiled bread on My altar.” But you say, “How did we defile You?” When you say, “The table of Adonai is despicable.”
8 “When you bring a blind one as sacrifice, is it not wrong? Or when you bring a lame or sick one, is it not wrong? Offer them now to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Or will he acknowledge you favorably?” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
9 “So now, implore God’s favor! Then, will He be gracious to us? Since this has come from your hands, will He accept any of it from you?” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
10 “If just one of you would shut the doors, and not light My altar uselessly! I have no delight in you,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot. “Nor will I accept any offering from your hand.
11 “For from sunrise to its setting[c] My Name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to My Name with a pure grain offering, for My Name will be great among the nations,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
12 But you are profaning it when you say, “The table of Adonai is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food—despicable!” 13 You also say, “It’s so tedious!”
“And you sniff at it,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot. “So you bring plunder, the lame and the sick. Then you bring them as the offering. Should I accept this from your hand?” says Adonai.
14 “Moreover, cursed is a deceiver who has in his flock a male, but makes a vow and sacrifices something blemished to my Lord. For I am a great King,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot, “and My Name shall be revered among the nations.”
Footnotes
- Malachi 1:1 Or burden.
- Malachi 1:1 Or My messenger, or My angel.
- Malachi 1:11 cf. Matt. 8:11.