2:1 “And now this admonition is for you, O priests.
2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.
2:3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
2:4 And you will know that I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD Almighty.
2:5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
2:6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
2:7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction–because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty.
2:8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the LORD Almighty.
2:9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
2:10 Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?
2:11 Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.
2:12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD cut him off from the tents of Jacob–even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty.
2:13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’S altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.
2:14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
2:15 Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
2:16 “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.
2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
2:1 And now this commandment is for you, O priests.
2:2 If you will not hear and take it to heart to give glory to My name, says Jehovah of hosts, I will send the curse among you, and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have cursed them already because you have not taken it to heart.
2:3 I will rebuke your seed and spread dung upon your faces, the dung of your feasts; and they will take you away with it.
2:4 And you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may remain with Levi, says Jehovah of hosts.
2:5 My covenant was with him as life and peace; and I gave these to him that he might fear; and he did fear Me, and he did stand in awe of My name.
2:6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and no wrong was found in his lips; in peace and uprightness he walked with Me, and he turned many away from iniquity.
2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.
2:8 But you have turned away from the way; you have caused many to stumble at the law; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says Jehovah of hosts.
2:9 Therefore I also have made you despicable and base before all the people to the same extent that you have not kept My ways but have been respecters of persons in the law.
2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why are we treacherous, each one to his brother, thus profaning the covenant of our fathers?
2:11 Judah has been treacherous, and an abomination has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Jehovah, which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
2:12 As regards the man who does this, Jehovah will cut off from the tents of Jacob him who wakes and him who answers and him who offers a sacrifice to Jehovah of hosts.
2:13 And this second thing you do: You cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping and sighing, so that He no longer regards the sacrifice or receives it with pleasure from your hand.
2:14 Yet you say, For what reason? Because Jehovah has been the witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been treacherous; yet she is your companion and your wife of covenant.
2:15 But did He not make them one? And the remnant of the Spirit was His. And why the one? He sought the seed of God. Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one be treacherous to the wife of his youth.
2:16 For I hate divorce, says Jehovah the God of Israel; and he who does it behaves in violence, says Jehovah of hosts. Take heed then to your spirit, and do not be treacherous.
2:17 You have wearied Jehovah with your words; but you say, How have we wearied Him? By saying, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and He delights in them; or, Where is the God of justice?