| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now this commandment is for you priests: | 1"Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. |
| 2"If you don't listen, and if you don't choose to give honor to my name," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "then I'll curse both you and your blessings. I've even cursed them already, because none of you are taking it to heart. | 2If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name," says the LORD who rules over all, "I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses--indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. |
| 3Look! I'm rebuking your descendants because of you, and I'll spread waste on your faces, the waste of your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. | 3I am about to discipline your children and will spread offal on your faces, the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. |
| 4"You will know that I sent this commandment to you in order to continue my covenant with Levi," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. | 4Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant may continue to be with Levi," says the LORD who rules over all. |
| 5"My covenant with him was for life and peace, and I gave the commandments to him so he would fear me. He did fear me as he stood in my presence. | 5"My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. |
| 6True teachings were in his mouth, and falsehood was not found on his lips. He walked with me peacefully and righteously, and he turned many from sin. | 6He taught what was true; sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. |
| 7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he's the messenger of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. | 7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the LORD who rules over all. |
| 8"But you priests turned aside from the way, and by your teaching you caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. | 8You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi," says the LORD who rules over all. |
| 9"So I also made you despised, humiliating you before all of the people, because you aren't following my ways and are showing partiality when you teach." | 9"Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your instruction." |
| 10Do we not have one father? Has not one God created us? Why does each of us act deceitfully, each man against his own brother, to profane the covenant of our ancestors? | 10Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? |
| 11Judah has become unfaithful, and a detestable thing was committed in Israel and Jerusalem. Indeed, Judah profaned the Holy Place of the LORD, which he loves, and married a daughter of a foreign god. | 11Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the LORD loves and has turned to a foreign god! |
| 12May the LORD exclude from the community of Jacob any man who does this, whoever he may be, even though he brings offerings to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. | 12May the LORD cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the LORD who rules over all! |
| 13"This is another thing you do: you flood the altar of the LORD with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer pays attention to your offering nor takes pleasure in it from your hand. | 13You also do this: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. |
| 14Yet you ask, 'For what reason?' Because the LORD acts as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you were unfaithful to her, your partner, the wife of your covenant. | 14Yet you ask, "Why?" The LORD is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. |
| 15Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. | 15No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. |
| 16"Indeed, the LORD God of Israel says that he hates divorce, along with the one who conceals his violence by outward appearances," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "So guard yourselves carefully, and don't be unfaithful." | 16"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and the one who is guilty of violence," says the LORD who rules over all. "Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful." |
| 17"You have wearied the LORD with your words. You ask, 'How have we wearied you?' By your saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD and he's pleased with them,' or 'Where is the God of justice?'" | 17You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" Because you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord's opinion, and he delights in them," or "Where is the God of justice?" |
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