The {Or, oracle}burden of the word of Jehovah to Israel by {Or, my messenger}Malachi.
I have loved you, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? {Or, Is not Esau…yet I have loved &c.}Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith Jehovah: yet I loved Jacob;
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.
{Or, Though Edom say}Whereas Edom saith, We are {Or, as otherwise read, impoverished}beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places; thus saith Jehovah of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and men shall call them The border of wickedness, and The people against whom Jehovah hath indignation for ever.
And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, Jehovah {Or, is great}be magnified {Or, over}beyond the border of Israel.
A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I am a father, where is mine honor? and if I am a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.
And when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is no evil! and when ye offer the lame and sick, it is no evil! Present it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person? saith Jehovah of hosts.
And now, I pray you, entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious unto us: this hath been {Hebrew: from your hand.}by your means: will he {Or, accept any because of you}accept any of your persons? saith Jehovah of hosts.
Oh that there were one among you that would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name {Or, is}shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place {Or, incense and a pure oblation are offered}incense {Or, is}shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name {Or, is}shall be great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts.
But ye profane it, in that ye say, The table of Jehovah is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even its food, is contemptible.
Ye say also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith Jehovah of hosts; and ye have brought that which was taken by violence, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye bring the offering: should I accept this at your hand? saith Jehovah.
But cursed be the deceiver, who hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a blemished thing; for I am a great King, saith Jehovah of hosts, and my name is terrible among the Gentiles.
Querverweise zu Maleachi 1,2 Mal 1,2
For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, {Or, out of}above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
Jehovah did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples:
but because Jehovah loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I am a father, where is mine honor? and if I am a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
And Jehovah said unto her,Two nations are in thy womb,And two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels:And the one people shall be stronger than the other people;And the elder shall serve the younger.
Only Jehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you {Or, out of}above all peoples, as at this day.
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.
And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said,See, the smell of my sonIs as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed:
And God give thee of the dew of heaven,And of the fatness of the earth,And plenty of grain and new wine:
Let peoples serve thee,And nations bow down to thee:Be lord over thy brethren,And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee:Cursed be every one that curseth thee,And blessed be every one that blesseth thee.
And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,When he separated the children of men,He set the bounds of the peoplesAccording to the number of the children of Israel.
For Jehovah's portion is his people;Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,And in the waste howling wilderness;He compassed him about, he cared for him,He kept him as the apple of his eye.
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,That fluttereth over her young, {Or, Spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions}He spread abroad his wings, he took them,He bare them on his pinions.
Jehovah alone did lead him,And there was no foreign god with him.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth,And he did eat the increase of the field;And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,And oil out of the flinty rock;
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock,With fat of lambs,And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,With the {Hebrew: fat of kidneys of wheat.}finest of the wheat;And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth in them; or where is the God of justice?
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who then is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.
But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,
From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return?
And {Hebrew: El Shaddai.}God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a company of peoples;
thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away;
Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and {Hebrew: heave-offering.}offerings.
and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham.
Since thou hast been precious in my sight, {Or, thou hast been honorable &c.}and honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of thy life.
Your words have been stout against me, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, What have we spoken against thee?
And, behold, Jehovah stood {Or, beside him}above it, and said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Jehovah appeared {Or, from afar}of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore {Or, have I continued lovingkindness unto thee}with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked {Or, in mourning apparel}mournfully before Jehovah of hosts?
and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt {Hebrew: break forth.}spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
As touching the {See chapter 10:15, 16 and marginal note on chapter 1:1}gospel, they are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake.
Thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but {That is, He who striveth with God, or, God striveth.}Israel: for thou hast {Or, had power with}striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place {That is, The face of God.}Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of.
O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of {Or, darkness of Jah}thick darkness? wherefore say my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more unto thee?
and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples, and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
And not only so; but Rebecca also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac—
for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,
it was said unto her, {Genesis 25:23}The elder shall serve the younger.
Even as it is written, {Malachi 1:2 f}Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.