Unless you obey and unless you lay it to heart, and do honor to My name—said GOD of Hosts—I will send a curse and turn your blessings into curses. (Indeed, I have turned them into curses, because you do not lay it to heart.)
I will put your seed under a ban,aput your seed under a ban Meaning of Heb. uncertain. and I will strew dung upon your faces, the dung of your festal sacrifices, and you shall be carried out to its [heap].
bSee Hag. 2.10–13; cf. Lev. 10.8–11; Deut. 33.8, 10. Proper rulings were in his mouth,And nothing perverse was on his lips;He served Me with complete loyaltyAnd held the many back from iniquity.
For the lips of a priest guard knowledge,And rulings are sought from his mouth;cFor the lips of a priest guard knowledge, / And rulings are sought from his mouth Or “For the lips of a priest are observed; / Knowledge and ruling are sought from his mouth.” For he is a messenger of GOD of Hosts.
But you have turned away from that course: You have made the many stumble through your rulings;dthrough your rulings By ruling falsely that an act was licit or an object ritually pure. you have corrupted the covenant of the Levites—said GOD of Hosts.
Have we not all one Father?eHave we not all one Father I.e., are we not members of the same household—and thus reliant upon each other? Or “father,” namely Jacob; cf. Ibn Ezra, Kimhi. Did not one God create us? Why do we break faith with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
Judah has broken faith; abhorrent things have been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned what is holy to, and desired by, GOD—and espoused daughters of alien gods.
May GOD leave to any man who has done this no descendantsfno descendants Meaning of Heb. uncertain. dwelling in the tents of Jacob and presenting offerings to GOD of Hosts.
And this you do as well:gas well Lit. “a second time”; Septuagint reads “that I detest”; cf. v. 16. You cover the altar of GOD with tears, weeping, and moaning, so that [God] refuses to regard the oblation anymore and to accept what you offer.hwhat you offer Lit. “from your hand.”
But you ask, “Because of what?” Because GOD is a witness between you and the wife of your youth with whom you have broken faith, though she is your partner and covenanted spouse.
Did not the One make [all,] so that all remaining life-breath is that One’s? And what does that One seek but godly folk? So be careful of your life-breath,iso that all remaining life-breath … careful of your life-breath Meaning of Heb. uncertain. and let no one break faith with the wife of his youth.
For I detest divorce—said the ETERNAL, the God of Israel—and covering oneself with lawlessness as with a garmentjand covering … with a garment Meaning of Heb. uncertain.—said GOD of Hosts. So be careful of your life-breath and do not act treacherously.
You have wearied GOD with your talk. But you ask, “By what have we done so?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of GOD, who delights in them,” or else, “Where is the God of justice?”