Malachias Chapter
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- THE burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the
hand of his messenger. Lay it, I pray you, to heart.
- I have loved you, saith the Lord. And ye said, Wherein hast thou
loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet [a] I loved Jacob,
- and hated Esau, and [b] laid waste his
borders, and made his heritage as dwellings of the wilderness?
- Because one will say, Idumea has been overthrown, but let us
return and rebuild the desolate places; thus saith the Lord Almighty,
They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall be called The
borders of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord has set
himself for ever.
- And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord has been
magnified [c] upon the borders of Israel.
- A son honours his father, and a servant his master: if
then I am a father, where is mine honour? and if I am a master, where
is my fear? saith the Lord Almighty. Ye the priests are they that
despise my name: yet ye said, Wherein have we despised thy name?
- In that ye bring to mine altar polluted bread; and ye said,
Wherein have ye polluted it? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is
polluted, and that which was set thereon ye have despised.
- For if ye bring a blind victim for sacrifices, is
it not evil? and if ye bring the lame or the sick, is it
not evil? offer it now to thy ruler, and see if he
will receive thee, if he will accept thy person, saith the Lord Almighty.
- And now [d] intreat the face of your
God, and make supplication to him. These things have been done by your
hands; shall I accept you? saith the Lord Almighty.
- Because even among you the doors shall be shut, and one
will not kindle the fire of mine altar for nothing, I have no
pleasure in you, saith the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept a
sacrifice at your hands.
- For from the rising of the sun even to the going down
thereof my name has been glorified among the Gentiles; and in
every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my
name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord Almighty.
- But ye profane it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is
polluted, and his meats set thereon are despised.
- And ye said, These services are troublesome: therefore I
have [e] utterly rejected them with scorn,
saith the Lord Almighty: and ye brought in torn victims, and lame, and
sick: if then ye should bring an offering, shall I accept them at your
hands? saith the Lord Almighty.
- And cursed is the man who had the power, and possessed a
male in his flock, and whose vow is upon him, and who sacrifices a
corrupt thing to the Lord: for I am a great King, saith the Lord
Almighty, and my name is glorious among the nations.
[a] Rom. 9. 13.
[b] Lit. appointed them for desolation.
[c] Gr. above.
[d] Lit. propitiate.
[e] Gr. puffed at them.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]