¹The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel through the intermediacy of Malachi. ²“I have loved you, says the Lord, but you say, ‘In what way have you loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord, and I loved Jacob, ³but I hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation, and I have given his inheritance to the desert jackals. ⁴For Edom says, ‘We have been broken in pieces, but we will build up the waste places again.’ This is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘They may build, but I will pull down, and they will call them the Wicked Territory, and the People with whom the Lord has an Age-abiding Indignation. ⁵And your eyes will see, and you will say, «May the Lord be magnified above the territory of Israel.» ⁶A son honours his father, and a servant his master, so if I am a father, where is my honour? And if I am a master, where is my fear? The Lord of hosts says to you, «The priests despise my name.» Yet you say, «In what way do we despise your name?» ⁷You offer polluted bread on the altar, but you say, «In what way do we pollute you?» In that you say, «The table of the Lord is despicable.» ⁸And when you offer a blind animal to be sacrificed, is it not wrong? And when you offer a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Offer it now to your governor and see if he is pleased with you, or if he commends you, says the Lord of hosts.’ ” ⁹And now, entreat God, I pray you, that he be gracious to us. This has come about because of your deeds. “Will he commend any of you? says the Lord of hosts. ¹⁰Who among you would close the doors? And you do not kindle my altar freely. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands. ¹¹For my name is great among the Gentiles from the rising of the sun to where it sets, and in every place incense is burnt and offered to my name, and a pure offering, for my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord of hosts. ¹²But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord^* is polluted, and its produce, its fruit, is despicable.’ ¹³And you said, ‘Look how wearisome it is’, and you disparaged me, says the Lord of hosts, and you brought snatched animals, and lame ones, and sick ones, and you brought them as an offering. Should I be pleased with that from your hand? says the Lord. ¹⁴But cursed be he who fraudulently withholds, when there is a male in his flock, and he vows, and he sacrifices a spoiled animal to the Lord^*, for I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is feared among the Gentiles.

Reference(s) in Chapter 1: v.2 ↔ Romans 9:13 ● v.3 ↔ Romans 9:13.