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 1,10 Mal 1,10
Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his {Or, cattle}substance is increased in the land.
But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will renounce thee to thy face.
Know ye not that they that minister about sacred things eat of the things of the temple, and they that wait upon the altar have their portion with the altar?
What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
When ye come {Or, as otherwisw read, to see my face}to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
Bring no more {Hebrew: an oblation of vanity.}vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, — {Or, I cannot away with, it is iniquity, even me solemn meeting}I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a {Or, cumbrance}trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds that cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, {Or, one and all}from every quarter.
To what purpose cometh there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet {Or, calamus}cane from a far country? your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto me.
Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure.
I hate, I despise your feasts, and I {Hebrew: will not smell a savor.}will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Yea, though ye offer me {Or, burnt-offerings with your meal-offerings}your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the {Or, ever-flowing}peace-offerings of your fat beasts.
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
But {Some ancient authorities read the righteous one.}my righteous one shall live by faith:And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.
Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall possess them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.
He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholdeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf snatcheth them, and scattereth them:
For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
Tend the flock of God which is among you, {Some ancient authorities omit exercising the oversight.}exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, {Some ancient authorities omit according to the will of God.}according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;