Malachi 1-4 - Prayer Tents

1This is the message that the Lord gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi.H4853H1697H3068H3478H3027H4401

The Lord’s Love for Israel

2“I have always loved you,” says the Lord. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?” And the Lord replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob,H157H5002H3068H559H157H6215H3290H251H559H3068H157H3290 3but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.”H8130H6215H7760H2022H5159H8077H8568H4057 4Esau’s descendants in Edom may say, “We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins.” But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies replies, “They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.’H123H559H7567H7725H1129H2723H559H3068H6635H1129H2040H7121H1366H7564H5971H3068H2194H5704H5769 5When you see the destruction for yourselves, you will say, ‘Truly, the Lord’s greatness reaches far beyond Israel’s borders!’”H5869H7200H559H3068H1431H1366H3478

Unworthy Sacrifices

6The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name! “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’H1121H3513H1H5650H113H1H3519H113H4172H559H3068H6635H3548H959H8034H559H959H8034 7“You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. “Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’ “You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect.H5066H1351H3899H4196H559H1351H559H7979H3068H959 8When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H5066H5787H2076H7451H5066H6455H2470H7451H7126H6346H7521H5375H6440H559H3068H6635 9“Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H2470H6440H410H2603H3027H5375H6440H559H3068H6635 10“How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings.H5462H1817H215H4196H2600H2656H559H3068H6635H7521H4503H3027 11But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H4217H8121H3996H8034H1419H1471H4725H6999H5066H8034H2889H4503H8034H1419H1471H559H3068H6635 12“But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table.H2490H559H7979H3068H1351H5108H400H959 13You say, ‘It’s too hard to serve the Lord,’ and you turn up your noses at my commands,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?” asks the Lord.H559H4972H5301H559H3068H6635H935H1497H6455H2470H935H4503H7521H3027H559H3068 14“Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is feared among the nations!H779H5230H3426H5739H2145H5087H2076H136H7843H1419H4428H559H3068H6635H8034H3372H1471

A Warning to the Priests

2“Listen, you priests—this command is for you!H3548H4687 2Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart.H8085H7760H3820H5414H3519H8034H559H3068H6635H7971H3994H779H1293H779H7760H3820 3I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile.H1605H2233H2219H6569H6440H6569H2282H5375 4Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H3045H7971H4687H1285H3878H559H3068H6635 5“The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name.H1285H2416H7965H5414H4172H3372H2865H6440H8034 6They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.H8451H571H6310H5766H4672H8193H1980H7965H4334H7725H7227H7725H5771 7“The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H3548H8193H8104H1847H1245H8451H6310H4397H3068H6635 8But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H5493H1870H7227H3782H8451H7843H1285H3878H559H3068H6635 9“So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.”H5414H959H8217H5971H6310H8104H1870H5375H6440H8451

A Call to Faithfulness

10Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?H259H1H259H410H1254H898H376H251H2490H1285H1 11Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the Lord’s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols.H3063H898H8441H6213H3478H3389H3063H2490H6944H3068H157H1166H1323H5236H410 12May the Lord cut off from the nation of Israel every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H3068H3772H376H6213H5782H6030H168H3290H5066H4503H3068H6635 13Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure.H6213H8145H3680H4196H3068H1832H1065H603H6437H4503H3947H7522H3027 14You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.H559H4100H3068H5749H802H5271H898H2278H802H1285 15Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.H6213H259H7605H7307H259H1245H430H2233H8104H7307H898H802H5271 16“For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”H3068H430H3478H559H8130H7971H3680H2555H3830H559H3068H6635H8104H7307H898 17You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”H3021H3068H1697H559H3021H559H6213H7451H2896H5869H3068H2654H430H4941

The Coming Day of Judgment

3“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H7971H4397H6437H1870H6440H113H1245H6597H935H1964H4397H1285H2655H935H559H3068H6635 2“But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes.H3557H3117H935H5975H7200H6884H784H3526H1287 3He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.H3427H6884H2891H3701H2891H1121H3878H2212H2091H3701H5066H3068H4503H6666 4Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.H4503H3063H3389H6149H3068H3117H5769H6931H8141 5“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H7126H4941H4116H5707H3784H5003H8267H7650H6231H7916H7939H490H3490H5186H1616H3372H559H3068H6635

A Call to Repentance

6“I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.H3068H8138H1121H3290H3615 7Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’H3117H1H5493H2706H8104H7725H7725H559H3068H6635H559H7725 8“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.H120H6906H430H6906H559H6906H4643H8641 9You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.H779H3994H6906H1471 10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!H935H4643H214H2964H1004H974H2063H559H3068H6635H6605H699H8064H7324H1293H1767 11Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H1605H398H7843H6529H127H1612H7921H7704H559H3068H6635 12“Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H1471H833H2656H776H559H3068H6635 13“You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord. “But you say, ‘What do you mean? What have we said against you?’H1697H2388H559H3068H559H1696 14“You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins?H559H7723H5647H430H1215H8104H4931H1980H6941H6440H3068H6635 15From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’”H833H2086H833H6213H7564H1129H974H430H4422

The Lord’s Promise of Mercy

16Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.H3373H3068H1696H376H7453H3068H7181H8085H5612H2146H3789H6440H3373H3068H2803H8034 17“They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.H559H3068H6635H3117H6213H5459H2550H376H2550H1121H5647 18Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”H7725H7200H6662H7563H5647H430H5647

The Coming Day of Judgment

4The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all.H3117H935H1197H8574H2086H6213H7564H7179H3117H935H3857H559H3068H6635H5800H8328H6057 2“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.H3373H8034H8121H6666H2224H4832H3671H3318H6335H5695H4770 3On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H6072H7563H665H3709H7272H3117H6213H559H3068H6635 4“Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my servant—all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel.H2142H8451H4872H5650H6680H2722H3478H2706H4941 5“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.H7971H452H5030H6440H935H1419H3372H3117H3068 6His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”H7725H3820H1H1121H3820H1121H1H935H5221H776H2764