Additional Warning to the Priests

2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.v 2 If you do not listen,w and if you do not resolve to honorx my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a cursey on you, and I will curse your blessings.z Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendantsa; I will smear on your faces the dunga from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.b 4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levic may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenantd of life and peace,e and I gave them to him; this called for reverencef and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instructiong was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walkedh with me in peacei and uprightness,j and turned many from sin.k

7 “For the lips of a priestl ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messengerm of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.n 8 But you have turned from the wayo and by your teaching have caused many to stumble;p you have violated the covenantq with Levi,”r says the Lord Almighty. 9 “So I have caused you to be despiseds and humiliatedt before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partialityu in matters of the law.”v

Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

10 Do we not all have one Fatherb?w Did not one God create us?x Why do we profane the covenanty of our ancestors by being unfaithfulz to one another?

11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestablea thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord lovesb by marryingc women who worship a foreign god.d 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord removee him from the tents of Jacobc f—even though he brings an offeringg to the Lord Almighty.

13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.h You weep and waili because he no longer looks with favorj on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.k 14 You ask,l “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witnessm between you and the wife of your youth.n You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.o

15 Has not the one God made you?p You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.d q So be on your guard,r and do not be unfaithfuls to the wife of your youth.

16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,t” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”e u says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard,v and do not be unfaithful.

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

17 You have weariedw the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.x

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleasedy with them” or “Where is the God of justice?z”