1This is a message, Yahweh's word to Israel, delivered through Malachi.
2“I have loved you,” says Yahweh. But you ask, “How have you loved us?” Yahweh answers, “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother? Yet I loved Jacob;
3but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
4Even if Edom says, “We are beaten down, but we will come back and rebuild the ruins,” Yahweh of Armies says, “They may build, but I will tear it down. People will call them ‘The Wicked Land,’ and ‘The People Against Whom Yahweh Is Angry Forever.’”
5You will see this with your own eyes and say, “Yahweh is great — even beyond the borders of Israel!”
6“A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. If I am a father, where is the honor I deserve? And if I am a master, where is the respect due to me?” This is what Yahweh of Armies says to you, priests, who show contempt for my name. Still you ask, “How have we shown contempt for your name?”
7You offer unholy food on my altar. You ask, “How have we made you unholy?” By saying, “The Lord’s table is worthless.”
8When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, isn’t that wrong? And when you offer lame or sick animals, isn’t that wrong? Try presenting such an offering to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says Yahweh of Armies.
9“Now, try to ask God for his favor, so he might be gracious to us. Given what you’re doing, will he accept any of you?” says Yahweh of Armies.
10“I wish there was one among you who would shut the temple doors, so you wouldn’t light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”
11“For from where the sun rises to where it sets, my name is honored among the nations. Everywhere, incense and pure offerings are presented to my name, for my name is great among the nations,” says Yahweh of Armies.
12“But you dishonor my name by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled, and its fruit—its food—is contemptible.’
13You also say, ‘What a burden this is!’ and you sniff at it scornfully,” says Yahweh of Armies. “And you bring stolen, lame, and sick animals as your offering. Should I accept this from your hand?” asks Yahweh.
14“A deceiver is cursed, one who has a healthy male animal in his flock, but makes a vow and then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”