1 The message of the word of יהוה to Yisra’ĕl by Mal’aḵi.
2 “I have loved you,” said יהוה. “But you asked, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ “Was not Ěsaw Ya‛aqoḇ’s brother?” declares יהוה. “And I love Ya‛aqoḇ,
3 but I have hated Ěsaw, and have laid waste his mountains and his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”
4 If Eḏom says, “We have been beaten down, let us return and build the ruins,” יהוה of hosts said thus: “Let them build, but I tear down. And they shall be called ‘Border of Wrongness’, and the people against whom יהוה is enraged forever.
5 And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, ‘Great is יהוה beyond the border of Yisra’ĕl!’
6 “A son esteems his father, and a servant his master. And if I am the Father, where is My esteem? And if I am a Master, where is My fear? said יהוה of hosts to you priests who despise My Name. But you asked, ‘In what way have we despised Your Name?’
7 “You are presenting defiled food on My altar. But you asked, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ Because you say, ‘The table of יהוה is despicable.’