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 2,10 Mal 2,10
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?
Did not he that made me in the womb make him?And did not one fashion us in the womb?
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.
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.
And I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
Know ye that Jehovah, he is God:It is he that hath made us, {Another reading is, and not we ourselves.}and we are his;We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
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.
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.
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.
But now thus saith Jehovah that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine.
{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.
And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been {Hebrew: created.}wrought in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of Jehovah; for it is a terrible thing that I do with thee.
Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
but ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their {Or, obelisks}pillars, and ye shall cut down their {Probably the wooden symbols of a goddess Asherah.}Asherim;
(for thou shalt worship no other god: for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God);
lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice;
and thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters play the harlot after their gods, and make thy sons play the harlot after their gods.
For thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us: thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name.
every one that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yea, whom I have made.
Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.
Else if ye do at all go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you;
know for a certainty that Jehovah your God will no more drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap unto you, and a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which Jehovah your God hath given you.
And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which Jehovah your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, not one thing hath failed thereof.
And it shall come to pass, that as all the good things are come upon you of which Jehovah your God spake unto you, so will Jehovah bring upon you all the evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which Jehovah your God hath given you.
When ye transgress the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them; then will the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.
But now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
And they will {Or, mock}deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.
which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness:
now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remnant,
shall we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?
Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
Thus saith Jehovah that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
{Or, Both hands are put forth for evil to do it &c.}Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
The best of them is as a brier; {Or, the straightest is as it were taken from &c.}the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.
Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a {Or, confidant}friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.
and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Ye do the works of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against parents, and {Or, put them to death}cause them to be put to death.
Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of {Or, the Lord}my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father,
neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
And they send to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any one: for thou regardest not the person of men.
Remember them, O my God, {Hebrew: for the defilings of &c.}because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy {Or, your repentance}of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
And the day following he appeared unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
They answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus saith unto them, If ye {Greek: are}were Abraham's children, {Some ancient authorities read ye do the works of Abraham.}ye would do the works of Abraham.
but brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?
Nay, already it is altogether {Or, a loss to you}a defect in you, that ye have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather take wrong? why not rather be defrauded?
Nay, but ye yourselves do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself?
Wherefore, putting away falsehood, {Zechariah 8:16.}speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
Your father Abraham rejoiced {Or, that he should see}to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.
that no man {Or, overreach}transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter: because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we {Or, told you plainly}forewarned you and testified.
And he said,Brethren and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
What then shall we say {Some ancient authorities read of Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?}that Abraham, {Or, our forefather according to the flesh found?}our forefather, hath found according to the flesh?
And not only so; but Rebecca also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac—
yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.
one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.
Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of {Or, our spirits}spirits, and live?