And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
Behold, I will rebuke {Or, as otherwise read, your arm}your seed, and will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and ye shall be taken away {Or, unto}with it.
And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant may be with Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts.
My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might fear; and he feared me, and stood in awe of my name.
The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity.
For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.
But ye are turned aside out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law.
Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the {Or, sanctuary}holiness of Jehovah which he loveth, and hath married the daughter of a foreign god.
Jehovah will cut off, to the man that doeth this, him that waketh and him that answereth, out of the tents of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto Jehovah of hosts.
And this {Or, a second time}again ye do: ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, neither receiveth it with good will at your hand.
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
{Or, And not one hath done so who had a residue of the spirit. Or what? is there one that seeketh a godly seed?}And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
For {Hebrew: he hateth.}I hate putting away, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, and him that covereth his garment with violence, saith Jehovah of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
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?
Querverweise zu Maleachi 2,4 Mal 2,4
And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day, when thou shalt go {Or, from chamber to chamber}into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies;
and I will {Or, bring my hand again}turn my hand upon thee, and {Hebrew: as with lye.}thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy {Or, alloy}tin;
and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, a faithful town.
Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and {Or, they that return of her}her converts with righteousness.
But the {Hebrew: breaking.}destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and they that forsake Jehovah shall be consumed.
Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, yet they see not: but they shall see {Or, and be put to shame, in their envy at the people}thy zeal for the people, and be put to shame; yea, {Or, the fire of thine adversaries shall devour them}fire shall devour thine adversaries.
Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be {Or, expiated}forgiven, and this is all the fruit {Or, to take away}of taking away his sin: that he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, so that the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more.
The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, {Or, whom Jehovah hath truly sent}that Jehovah hath truly sent him.
and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his idols, {Or, but hereafter surely he shall hearken unto me and &c.}and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me; but my holy name shall ye no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.
For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the {Or, chief}first-fruits of your {Or, tribute}oblations, with all your holy things.
{Or, With}As a sweet savor will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.
And when this cometh to pass, (behold, it cometh,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the children of Israel.
But the Levites that went far from me, when Israel went astray, that went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.
Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall slay the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.
Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and became a stumblingblock of iniquity unto the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they shall bear their iniquity.
And they shall not come near unto me, to execute the office of priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, unto the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me; and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Jehovah:
they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.
Even the dust from your city, that cleaveth to our feet, we wipe off against you: nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.