Opening the chapter…
Gloryian · © Guini Productions LLC
The oracle of the word of God, unto Israel,—by the hand of Malachi.
I have loved you, saith God, and yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Is not Esau, brother, to Jacob? enquireth God, Yet have I loved Jacob,
And, Esau, have I hated,— and made his mountains a desolation, and his inheritance [a dwelling] for the jackals of the wilderness.
Whereas Edom, may say, We are laid waste, but we will again build the desolate places, Thus, saith God of hosts, They, may build, but, I, will pull down,— and men shall call them, The Boundary of Lawlessness, and, The people with whom God hath indignation unto times age-abiding;
And, your own eyes, shall see,—and, ye yourselves, shall say, God, be magnified, beyond the boundary of Israel.
A son, will honour a father, and, a servant, his lord,— If then, a father, I am, where is mine honour? And, if, a lord, I am, where is my reverence? saith God of hosts— to you, ye priests, who despise my Name, and yet say, Wherein have we despised thy Name?
In bringing near upon mine altar, polluted food, while yet ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? Because ye say, As for the table of God, a thing to be despised, it is;
And when ye bring near the blind as a sacrifice, [saying] —No harm! or when ye bring near the lame or the sick [saying] —No harm! Offer it, I pray you, unto thy pasha, Will he accept thee? or lift up thy countenance? saith God of hosts.
Now, therefore, pacify, I pray you, the face of GOD, that he may grant us favour,—at your hands, hath this come to pass, Will he lift up the countenances, of any of you? saith God of hosts.
Who is there, even among you, that will shut the doors, so as not to set light to mine altar, for nothing? I can take no pleasure in you, saith God of hosts, and, your present, can I not accept at your hand.
For, from the rising of the sun, even unto the going in thereof, great is my Name among the nations, and, in every place, incense, is offered to my Name, and a pure present,—for great is my Name among the nations, saith God of hosts.
But ye are profaning me,— in that ye say, As for the table of the Lord, polluted it is, and, as for his produce, contemptible is his food.
And ye have said, Lo! what a weariness! And ye have snuffed at Me, saith God of hosts, and have brought in the torn and the lame and the sick, thus have ye brought the present,— Could I accept it at your hand? saith God.
But accursed is he that defraudeth, who, when there is in his flock a male, yet voweth and sacrificeth a corrupt thing to the Lord, for, a great king, am I, saith God of hosts, and, my Name, is revered among the nations.
Rotherham Emphasised Bible. Public domain. Source: CrossWire SWORD module Rotherham (converted to USFM; no wording changed). Editorial rendering: in this app the divine name "Yahweh" is displayed and read aloud as "God" (and "Yahweh God" as "God"). The stored text and the imported source are unchanged; this is a display-layer substitution, not part of the translation.