1 This is the message that the lord gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi.
2 “I have always loved you,” says the lord.But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”And the lord replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob,
3 but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.”
4 Esau’s descendants in Edom may say, “We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins.”But the lord of Heaven’s Armies replies, “They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the lord Is Forever Angry.’