Malachi 1

The Lord says He has loved Israel.

The Lord spoke to Israel through Malachi. He said, "I have loved you. But, you ask Me how I have loved you. I loved your ancestor, Jacob, more than his brother, Esau. I made Esau's land empty.  Esau's descendants live in the area named Edom.  They said they will rebuild their cities and towns. But I will destroy them again. They are wicked, and I will always be against them.
[1] The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
[2] I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
[3] And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
[4] Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.

Israel, when you see this, you will say that I am to be worshiped even beyond the borders of Israel."
[5] And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.


The Lord is not happy with the priests.


The Lord God said, "A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. I am a father, but where is My honor? I am a master, but where is My respect? You priests hate My name. But you ask when you have hated My name.
[6] A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

You offer unholy bread on My altar. You ask how you have not respected Me.  When you ask that, it makes My table unholy.
[7] Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

If you offer blind animals for sacrifies, isn't that evil?  If you offer lame and sick animals, isn't that also evil? Try to offer those animals to your governor.  Do you think he will be happy or accept you?"
[8] And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.


The Lord said, "I ask you to pray to Me to be gracious to you. You have not been good. Will I see what you are?"
[9] And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.

You are making sacrifices for nothing. You should just shut the doors of the temple. I am not happy with you.  I will not take your offerings.
[10] Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

From morning until night, the Gentiles praise My name. They offer incense and sacrifices.  But you Jewish priests say My table is dirty, and the sacrifices do not mean anything.
[11] For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
[12] But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.

You have talked about offerings and say they mean nothing. You bring sick animals for offerings. Should I accept those?
[13] Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.

You are dishonest. You will be cursed for offering animals that are not perfect. I am the Lord God, a great King. Heathen people worship My name."
[14] But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the LORD a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.

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Malachi 2

The Lord warns the priests.

The Lord gave Malachi a message for the priests. The Lord said, "If you don't give glory to My name, I will send bad things to happen to you. If you bless other people, I will make bad things happen to them. I have already made this happen.
[1] And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
[2] If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

I will make your descendants bad. You will have manure on your faces from the animals of your sacrifices.
[3] Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

I made a promise to your ancestor, Levi. He respected Me and obeyed My laws. I kept My promise, and He lived a good life with peace.
[4] And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
[5] My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.

He was a honest man, and he did not tell lies. He was peaceful and fair. He made a lot of people change their behavior.
[6] The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

Priests should share their knowledge. People should want to hear them talk about Me. The priest is the messenger of the Lord of everything.
[7] For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.


You priests have stopped obeying Me.  You have caused many people to stop obeying Me, too.  You have not kept the covenant promise I made with Levi.
[8] But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

So, I have made everyone hate you because you have not obeyed Me.  You have not treated everyone fairly."
[9] Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.


The Lord is not happy with the Israelites.

Don't we all have one father? Didn't one God create us? Why do you treat your brother badly? This is not following the covenant promise of our ancestors.
[10] Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

Judah has behaved terribly.  Awful things happen in Israel and Jerusalem.  Judah has made the temple of the Lord dirty. Judah has followed people who worship false gods.
[11] Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.


The Lord will cut off the men who do this. They will have to leave the Israelite tabernacles, even if they make offerings to the Lord.
[12] The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.


The Lord rejected your offerings. Then, you cried and wailed because God didn't accept them.
[13] And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

You ask why He rejects you. It is because He has seen how you treated your wife. You married her when you were young. You have not been good to her. She is your companion, and  you promised to be good to her. 
[14] Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

God made you and your wife one when you got married. Why? It was so you and your wife could have children who worshiped Him. Be careful. Do not treat your wife badly.
[15] And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.


The Lord God of Israel hates when men treat their wives badly and divorce them.  Be careful so you do not treat your wife badly.
[16] For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

You have made the Lord tired of your words.  You ask, "When have we made Him tired with our words?" It is when you say that doing evil is good and that the Lord thinks evil is good.  You say that God is not fair.
[17] Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

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Malachi 3

The Lord will send a messenger.

The Lord said, "Watch and see. I will send My messenger.  He will get everything ready for Me. You are looking for the Lord. Suddenly, you will see Him in the temple.  You will be happy because I kept My promise.Watch and see. He will come."
[1] Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to this temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.


When the Lord comes, He will be like a very hot furnace.  He will be like the fire that makes silver pure. He will be like the fire that makes the soap pure. He will make the priests pure like gold and silver. Then, they will offer sacrifices and be sincere. Then, the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will make the Lord happy like they did in past years.
[2] But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
[3] And he shall sit as a refiner and purifer of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
[4] Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

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The Lords warns the Israelites not to be dishonest.

The Lord said, "I will judge you and punish you for your sins. I will be against the witches, adulterers, liars, and cheaters. I will be against the people who do not pay fair wages, do not help widows, do not help orphans, do not help strangers, and do not obey Me.
[5] And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.


I am the Lord. I do not change. I have not destroyed the descendants of Jacob.  Your ancestors have not obeyed My laws. But, if you will come back to Me, I will take you back again. You ask Me how you can come back.
[6] For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
[7] Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Tithes A tithe is 1/10 of a person's income, crops, or possessions. When God gave Moses the laws for the Israelites, He told them they should give tithes to the priests.

Should a man steal from God? You have stolen from Me.  You ask when you have stolen from Me. You have stolen by not giving your tithes and offerings.
[8] Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.


You have stolen from Me. Your whole nation is cursed.
[9] Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.


Bring your tithes to the places for storage so there will be enough food.  Then I will give you many blessings.  I will open the windows of heaven and pour blessings over you.  There will be so many blessings that there won't be room for them.
[10] Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

I will not let anything destroy your crops or your farms and vineyards.  The other nations will call you blessed. You will be a beautiful and blessed land.
[11] And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
[12] And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.


You have said bad things about Me. But you ask when you have said bad things against Me.
[13] Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?


You have said that it is pointless to serve Me.  You said there was no good reason to obey My laws. You said you have been walking around looking sad.
[14] Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?

You said that bad people always look happy. You said they don't obey My laws, but they are not punished."
[15] And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

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The people who obey the Lord will be blessed.


The people who respected and obeyed God talked to one another.  The Lord heard them. He wrote their names in a book where He keeps track of people who obey Him.
[16] Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

The Lord said, "They will be Mine. They are precious like jewels.  When I judge people, I will not punish them. It will be the same as when a man spares His son who serves Him.
[17] And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Then, everyone will see the difference between good people who obey God and bad people who don't obey Him."
[18] Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

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Malachi 4   

God will judge and punish the sinners.

The Lord said, "The day is coming. The wicked, bad people will burn in fire. The Lord will punish them. They will burn up like plants. There won't be branches or roots left.
[1] For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But you people that respect My name will be happy. My sun of goodness will shine on you. It will heal you. You will grow strong and healthy like baby calves.
[2] But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

You will destroy the wicked people. You will stomp on them.  When I do this, they will be like ashes that you walk on.
[3] And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

Remember all of My laws that I gave to Moses in the place named Horeb.
[4] Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.


I will send My prophet, Elijah, to you before that day comes. He will make fathers love their children. He will make children love their fathers. Then, when I come, I won't destroy the earth.
[5] Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
[6] And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.