Malachi 1

1 <1> A message from God. This message is from the Lord to Israel. God used Malachi to give this message.

God Loves Israel

<2> The Lord said, "I love you people."

But you said, "What shows you love us?"

The Lord said, "Esau was Jacob's brother, but I chose[1] Jacob. <3> And I did not accept[2] Esau. I destroyed his hill country.[3] His country was destroyed, and now only wild dogs[4] live there."

<4> The people of Edom might say, "We were destroyed, but we will go back and rebuild our cities."

But the Lord All-Powerful says, "If they rebuild their cities, I will destroy them again." That is why people say Edom is an evil country-a nation the Lord hates forever.

<5> You people saw these things, and you said, "The Lord is great, even outside of Israel!"

The People Don't Respect God

<6> The Lord All-Powerful said, "Children honor their fathers. Servants honor their masters. I am your Father, so why don't you honor me? I am your Master, so why don't you respect me? You priests don't respect my name."

But you say, "What have we done that shows we don't respect your name?"

<7> [The Lord said,] "You bring unclean[5] bread to my altar."

But you say, "What makes that bread unclean?"

[The Lord said,] "You don't show respect for my table (altar). <8> You bring blind animals as sacrifices,[6] and that is wrong. You bring sick and crippled animals for sacrifices, and that is wrong. Try giving those sick animals as a gift to your governor. Would he accept those sick animals? No, he would not accept them." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.

<9> "Priests, you should ask the Lord to be good to us. But he does not listen to you, and it is all your fault." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.

<10> "Surely, some of you priests could at least close the Temple[7] doors and light the fires correctly. I am not pleased with you. I will not accept your gifts." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.

<11> "People all around the world respect my name. All around the world they bring good gifts to me and burn good incense[8] as a gift to me, because my name is important to all of them." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.

<12> "But you people show that you don't respect my name. You say that the Lord's table (altar) is unclean. <13> And you don't like the food from that table. You smell the food and refuse to eat it. You say it is bad. [But that is not true.] Then you bring sick, crippled, and hurt animals to me. You try to give sick animals to me as sacrifices, but I will not accept them. <14> Some people have good, male animals that they could give as sacrifices. [But they don't give those good animals to me.] Some people bring good animals and promise to give those healthy animals to me. But then they secretly exchange those good animals and give me sick animals instead. Bad things will happen to those people. I am the Great King and people all around the world respect me!" This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.