American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel {Or, which was upon them}prophesied they unto them.
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.
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;
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.
Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; {Or, even}and the {Or, angel}messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.
But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness.
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
For I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
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?
Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and {Hebrew: heave-offering.}offerings.
Ye are cursed with the curse; for ye rob me, even this whole nation.
Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts.
And all nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Your words have been stout against me, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, What have we spoken against 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 now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and escape.
Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name.
And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I {Or, do this}make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. {[Chapter 3:19 in Hebrew]}
Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; {Or, even}and the {Or, angel}messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.
This is he, of whom it is written, {Malachi 3:1}Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,Who shall prepare thy way before thee.
Even as it is written {Some ancient authorities read in the prophets..}in Isaiah the prophet, {Malachi 3:1.}Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,Who shall prepare thy way;
holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these also turn away.
Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there {Hebrew: balal, to confound.}confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; {Or, even}and the {Or, angel}messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.
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.
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.
For I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
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?
Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and {Hebrew: heave-offering.}offerings.
Ye are cursed with the curse; for ye rob me, even this whole nation.
Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts.
And all nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Your words have been stout against me, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, What have we spoken against 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 now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and escape.
Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name.
And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I {Or, do this}make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. {[Chapter 3:19 in Hebrew]}
The {Or, oracle}burden of the word of Jehovah upon the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be its resting-place (for {Or, Jehovah hath an eye upon men and upon all the tribes of Israel}the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Jehovah);
The {Or, oracle}burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel.Thus saith Jehovah, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him: