Denunciation of Israel and the Priests
Malachi 1–2 (selections)
Persian Period, Late 6th–4th Century BCE
Chapter 1
1A pronouncement: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.
2I have shown you love, said the Lord. But you ask, “How have You shown us love?” After all—declares the Lord—Esau is Jacob’s brother; yet I have accepted Jacob 3and have rejected Esau. I have made his hills a desolation, his territory a home for beasts of the desert. 4If Edom thinks, “Though crushed, we can build the ruins again,” thus said the Lord of Hosts: They may build, but I will tear down. And so they shall be known as the region of wickedness, the people damned forever of the Lord. 5Your eyes shall behold it, and you shall declare, “Great is the Lord beyond the borders of Israel!”
6A son should honor his father, and a slave his master. Now if I am a father, where is the honor due Me? And if I am a master, where is the reverence due Me?—said the Lord of Hosts to you, O priests who scorn My name. But you ask, “How have we scorned Your name?” 7You offer defiled food on My altar. [ . . . ]
11For from where the sun rises to where it sets, My name is honored among the nations, and everywhere incense and pure oblation are offered to My name; for My name is honored among the nations—said the Lord of Hosts. 12But you profane it [ . . . ]. 13[ . . . ] and you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; and you offer such as an oblation. Will I accept it from you?—said the Lord.
Chapter 2
1And now, O priests, this charge is for you: [ . . . ]
4Know, then, that I have sent this charge to you that My covenant with Levi may endure—said the Lord of Hosts. 5I had with him a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave to him, and of reverence, which he showed Me. For he stood in awe of My name.
8But you have turned away from that course: You have made the many stumble through your rulings;a you have corrupted the covenant of the Levites—said the Lord of Hosts. 9And I, in turn, have made you despicable and vile in the eyes of all the people, because you disregard My ways and show partiality in your rulings.
10Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we break faith with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? 11Judah has broken faith; abhorrent things have been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned what is holy to the Lord—what He desires—and espoused daughters of alien gods. 12May the Lord leave to him who does this no descendants dwelling in the tents of Jacob and presenting offerings to the Lord of Hosts. 13And this you do as well: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, weeping, and moaning, so that He refuses to regard the oblation any more and to accept what you offer. 14But you ask, “Because of what?” Because the Lord is a witness between you and the wife of your youth with whom you have broken faith, though she is your partner and covenanted spouse. 15Did not the One make [all,] so that all remaining life-breath is His? And what does that One seek but godly folk? So be careful of your life-breath, and let no one break faith with the wife of his youth. 16For I detest divorce—said the Lord, the God of Israel—and covering oneself with lawlessness as with a garment—said the Lord of Hosts. So be careful of your life-breath and do not act treacherously.
Notes
By ruling falsely that an act was licit or an object ritually pure.
Credits
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.
