1This is the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi:
2“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved,[ † ]Deuteronomy 4:37Deuteronomy 7:8Deuteronomy 23:5Isaiah 41:8-9Jeremiah 31:3John 15:12Romans 9:13 3but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”[ † ]Jeremiah 49:18Ezekiel 35:9-15
4Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the Lord is indignant forever.[ † ]Jeremiah 49:16-18 5You will see this with your own eyes, and you yourselves will say, ‘The Lord is great—even beyond the borders of Israel.’”[ † ]Psalms 35:27Micah 5:4
6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the Lord of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’[ † ]Exodus 20:12Proverbs 30:11-17Matthew 15:4-8Ephesians 6:2-3Isaiah 63:16Isaiah 64:8Jeremiah 31:9Luke 6:46Malachi 2:14
7By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the Lord is contemptible.[ † ]Deuteronomy 15:21Ezekiel 41:22
8When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present the lame and sick ones, is it not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts.[ † ]Leviticus 22:22Deuteronomy 15:19-23Job 42:8
9“But ask now for God’s favor. Will He be gracious? Since this has come from your hands, will He show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts.[ † ]Hosea 13:9
10“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.[ † ]1 Corinthians 9:13Isaiah 1:11
11For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Hosts.[ † ]Isaiah 59:19Isaiah 60:3-51 Timothy 2:8Revelation 8:3Isaiah 66:18-19 12“But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’[ † ]Malachi 1:7
13You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the Lord.[ † ]Isaiah 43:22Leviticus 22:20
14“But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.[ † ]Malachi 1:8Leviticus 22:18-20Psalms 47:2