Corrupt Priests
1 “And now, Opriests, this commandment is for you.
2 If you will not hear,
And if you will not takeitto heart,
To give glory to My name,”
Says theLordof hosts,
“I will send a curse upon you,
And I will curse your blessings.
# Yes, I have cursed themalready,
Because you do not takeitto heart.
3 “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants
# And spreadrefuse on your faces,
The refuse of your solemn feasts;
# Andonewilltake you away with it.
4 Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you,
That My covenant with Levi may continue,”
Says theLordof hosts.
5 “Mycovenant was with him,oneof life and peace,
# And I gave them to himthathemightfearMe;
So he feared Me
And was reverent before My name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth,
And injustice was not found on his lips.
He walked with Me in peace and equity,
# Andturned many away from iniquity.
7 “Forthe lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
Andpeopleshould seek the law from his mouth;
# For he is the messenger of theLordof hosts.
8 But you have departed from the way;
# Youhave caused many to stumble at the law.
# You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,”
Says theLordof hosts.
9 “ThereforeI also have made you contemptible and base
Before all the people,
Because you have not kept My ways
# But have shownpartiality in the law.”
Treachery of Infidelity
10 Have we not all one Father?
# Has not one God created us?
Why do we deal treacherously with one another
By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
11 Judah has dealt treacherously,
And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,
# For Judah hasprofaned
TheLord’s holyinstitutionwhich He loves:
He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12 May theLordcut off from the tents of Jacob
The man who does this, being awake and aware,
# Yetwho brings an offering to theLordof hosts!
13 And this is the second thing you do:
You cover the altar of theLordwith tears,
With weeping and crying;
So He does not regard the offering anymore,
Nor receiveitwith goodwill from your hands.
14 Yet you say, “For what reason?”
Because theLordhas been witness
# Between you andthe wife of your youth,
With whom you have dealt treacherously;
# Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant.
15 Butdid He not makethemone,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
# He seeksgodly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
16 “FortheLordGod of Israel says
That He hates divorce,
For it covers one’s garment with violence,”
Says theLordof hosts.
“Therefore take heed to your spirit,
That you do not deal treacherously.”
17 You have wearied theLordwith your words;
Yet you say,
“In what way have we weariedHim?”
In that you say,
# “Everyone who does evil
Isgood in the sight of theLord,
And He delights in them,”
Or, “Whereisthe God of justice?”