Malachi 1-2; Psalms 63 - 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

63[A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.] O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my hole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.H4210H1732H4057H3063H430H410H7836H5315H6770H1320H3642H6723H5889H776H1097H4325 2I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.H7200H5797H3519H2372H6944 3Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!H2617H2896H2416H8193H7623 4I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.H1288H2416H5375H3709H8034 5You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy.H5315H7646H2459H1880H6310H1984H7445H8193 6I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.H2142H3326H1897H821 7Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.H5833H6738H3671H7442 8I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.H5315H1692H310H3225H8551 9But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin. They will go down into the depths of the earth.H1245H5315H7722H935H8482H776 10They will die by the sword and become the food of jackals.H5064H3027H2719H4521H7776 11But the king will rejoice in God. All who trust in him will praise him, while liars will be silenced.H4428H8055H430H7650H1984H6310H1696H8267H5534