1 A prophecy: the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.
2 ‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord.‘But you ask, “How have you loved us?”‘Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the Lord. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob,
3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.’
4 Edom may say, ‘Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.’But this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.
5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, “Great is the Lord – even beyond the borders of Israel!”
6 ‘A son honours his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honour due to me? If I am a master, where is the respect due to me?’ says the Lord Almighty.‘It is you priests who show contempt for my name.‘But you ask, “How have we shown contempt for your name?”