2 “I loved you,” says the Lord.“But you ask, ‘How did you love us?’“Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “I loved Jacob,
3 but Esau I hated. I turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the jackals in the desert.
4 “The descendants of Esau may say, ‘We have been beaten down, but we will rebuild the ruins.’“Yet, this is what the Lord of Armies says: They may rebuild, but I will tear it down. They will be called ‘the Wicked Land’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is always angry.’
5 You will see these things with your own eyes and say, ‘Even outside the borders of Israel the Lord is great.’
6 “This is what the Lord of Armies says: A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. So if I am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is my respect? You priests despise my name.“But you ask, ‘How have we despised your name?’
7 “You offer contaminated food on my altar.“But you ask, ‘Then how have we contaminated you?’“When you say that the Lord’s table may be despised.
8 When you bring a blind animal to sacrifice, isn’t that wrong? When you bring a lame or a sick animal, isn’t that wrong? Try offering it to your governor. Would he accept it from you? Would he welcome you?” asks the Lord of Armies.