Malachi 2

And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.

Listen up, dear priests, this instruction is specifically for you.

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.

If you choose not to listen or take to heart the importance of honoring my name, says the Lord Almighty, I will send a curse upon you and even your blessings will be cursed. In fact, they're already cursed because you've ignored my words.

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.

Watch out, I will taint your legacy, and smear filth on your faces, the filth from your grand celebrations; and someone will carry you away with it.

And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

You will realize that this directive comes from me, so that my agreement can be with Levi, declares the Lord Almighty.

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.

I made a sacred promise to him, offering life and peace. I gifted these to him because he respected and revered me, trembling in awe of my name.

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.

He spoke only truth, with no deceit on his lips. He journeyed with me in harmony and fairness, guiding many away from wrongdoing.

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.

A priest's words should be filled with wisdom, and people should turn to him for guidance, for he is God's chosen messenger.

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.

You've lost your way, leading many astray from the law. You've broken the sacred agreement of Levi, declares the Lord Almighty.

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.

Because you didn't follow my guidance and were unfair in applying the law, I've caused others to see you as unworthy and insignificant.

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?

Don't we all share the same divine Father? Hasn't one God shaped us all? Then why do we hurt each other, breaking the sacred bond our ancestors pledged?

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.

Judah has broken faith, committing a terrible act in Israel and Jerusalem. Judah has defiled the holy place the Lord loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

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.

God will cut off anyone who does this from the community of Jacob, be it a leader or a scholar, even if he presents offerings to the Lord Almighty.

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've done it again, flooding God's altar with your tears and cries, to the point where He no longer acknowledges your offerings or accepts them willingly.

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.

You ask why? It's because God has seen how you've wronged the wife of your youth, your partner, the woman you vowed to protect.

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.

Didn't He create us all as one, with a touch of His divine spirit? He did so to foster a generation of righteousness. So, guard your spirit, and never betray the woman you loved in your youth.

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.

The Lord, the God of Israel, says that He hates divorce, and that the man who sends his wife away covers himself with violence, says the Lord Almighty. So be careful with your soul, and don't break faith.

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?

You've exhausted God with your words, yet you ask, "How have we tired Him?" It's when you claim that those who do wrong are seen as good by God, and that He takes pleasure in them; or when you question, "Where is the God of justice?"