1 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.1
The Lord’s Love for Israel
2 a“I have loved you,” says the Lord. bBut you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau cJacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet dI have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. eI have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4 If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’” 5 fYour own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”
The Priests’ Polluted Offerings
6 g“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am ha father, where is my honor? And if I am ia master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. bBut you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 jBy offering polluted food upon my altar. bBut you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that kthe Lord’s table may be despised. 8 lWhen you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts. 9 And now mentreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, nwill he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 oOh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, pand I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name qwill be2 great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name qwill be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that rthe Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, s‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. tYou bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has ua male in his flock, and vvows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For wI am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name xwill be feared among the nations.
The Lord Rebukes the Priests
1 “And now, yO priests, zthis command is for you. 2 aIf you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send bthe curse upon you and I will curse cyour blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold, dI will rebuke your offspring,3 and espread dung on your faces, the fdung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.4 4 So shall you know that I have sent gthis command to you, that hmy covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and ipeace, and I gave them to him. jIt was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 kTrue instruction5 was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he lturned many from iniquity. 7 For mthe lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people6 should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. nYou have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted othe covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so pI make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but qshow partiality in your instruction.”
Judah Profaned the Covenant
10 Have we not all rone Father? Has not sone God created us? Why then are we tfaithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been tfaithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For uJudah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant7 of the man who does this, who vbrings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
13 And this second thing you do. wYou cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 xBut you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ywas witness between you and the wife of your youth, zto whom tyou have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 aDid he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?8 And what was the one God9 seeking?10 bGodly offspring. So guard yourselves11 in your spirit, and let none of you be tfaithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For cthe man who does not love his wife but divorces her,12 says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers13 his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and tdo not be faithless.”
The Messenger of the Lord
17 dYou have wearied the Lord with your words. xBut you say, “How have we wearied him?” eBy saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, f“Where is the God of justice?”
The New Heaven and the New Earth
1 Then I saw ya new heaven and a new earth, for zthe first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw athe holy city, bnew Jerusalem, ccoming down out of heaven from God, dprepared eas a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, fthe dwelling place1 of God is with man. He will gdwell with them, and they will be his people,2 and God himself will be with them as their God.3 4 hHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ideath shall be no more, jneither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And khe who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I lam making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for mthese words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, n“It is done! oI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. pTo the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 qThe one who conquers will have this heritage, and rI will be his God and she will be my son. 8 tBut as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, utheir portion will be in vthe lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is wthe second death.”
The New Jerusalem
9 Then came xone of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of ythe seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you zthe Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And ahe carried me away in the Spirit to ba great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 chaving the glory of God, dits radiance elike a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, fwith twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve gfoundations, and hon them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me ihad a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.4 Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits5 by jhuman measurement, which is also kan angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of ljasper, while the city was pure gold, like lclear glass. 19 mThe foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and nthe street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 And oI saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city phas no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for qthe glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light rwill the nations walk, and the kings of the earth swill bring their glory into it, 25 and tits gates will never be shut by day—and uthere will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But vnothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s wbook of life.
