1 A nd now, to you this charge, O priests,

¶ And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.

2 I f ye hearken not, and if ye lay not to heart, To give honour to My name, said Jehovah of Hosts, I have sent against you the curse, And I have cursed your blessings, Yea, I have also cursed it, Because ye are not laying to heart.

If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, said the LORD of the hosts, I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart.

3 L o, I am pushing away before you the seed, And have scattered dung before your faces, Dung of your festivals, And it hath taken you away with it.

Behold, I reprehend your seed and spread the dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemnities; and ye shall be removed with it.

4 A nd ye have known that I have sent unto you this charge, For My covenant being with Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, said the LORD of the hosts.

5 M y covenant hath been with him of life and of peace, And I make them to him a fear, and he doth fear Me, And because of My name he hath been affrighted.

My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear with which he feared me and was broken before my name.

6 T he law of truth hath been in his mouth, And perverseness hath not been found in his lips, In peace and in uprightness he walked with Me, And many he brought back from iniquity.

The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and righteousness and turned many away from iniquity.

7 F or the lips of a priest preserve knowledge, And law they do seek from his mouth, For a messenger of Jehovah of Hosts he.

For the priest’s lips keep wisdom, and they seek the law at his mouth; for he is an angel of the LORD of the hosts.

8 A nd ye, ye have turned from the way, Ye have caused many to stumble in the law, Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, said the LORD of the hosts.

9 A nd I also, I have made you despised and low before all the people, Because ye are not keeping My ways, And are accepting persons in the law.

Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

10 H ave we not all one father? Hath not our God prepared us? Wherefore do we deal treacherously, Each against his brother, To pollute the covenant of our fathers?

¶ Have we not all one father? has not one God created us? why do we despise each man his brother by breaking the covenant of our fathers?

11 D ealt treacherously hath Judah, And abomination hath been done in Israel, and in Jerusalem, For polluted hath Judah the holy thing of Jehovah, That He hath loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of the LORD by loving and marrying the daughter of a strange god.

12 C ut off doth Jehovah the man who doth it, Tempter and tempted -- from the tents of Jacob, Even he who is bringing nigh a present to Jehovah of Hosts.

The LORD will cut off the man that does this, the master and the scholar out of the tabernacles of Jacob and him that offers an offering unto the LORD of the hosts.

13 A nd this a second time ye do, Covering with tears the altar of Jehovah, With weeping and groaning, Because there is no more turning unto the present, Or receiving of a pleasing thing from your hand.

And once again ye shall cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, for I shall not even look at the offering any more to receive a free will offering from your hand.

14 A nd ye have said, `Wherefore?' Because Jehovah hath testified between thee And the wife of thy youth, That thou hast dealt treacherously against her, And she thy companion, and thy covenant-wife.

Yet ye say, Why? Because the LORD has been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously; yet she is thy companion and the wife of thy covenant.

15 A nd He did not make one, And He hath the remnant of the Spirit. And what the one! He is seeking a godly seed. And ye have been watchful over your spirit, And with the wife of thy youth, None doth deal treacherously.

And did he not make one, having in himself abundance of the Spirit? And why one? That he might seek offspring of God. Therefore take heed to your spirit and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

16 F or hate sending away, said Jehovah, God of Israel, And He hath covered violence with his clothing, said Jehovah of Hosts, And ye have been watchful over your spirit, And ye do not deal treacherously.

He that rejects her, sending her away, said the LORD God of Israel, covers the violence with his garment, said the LORD of the hosts; therefore take heed in your spirit, and do not be treacherous.

17 Y e have wearied Jehovah with your words, And ye have said: `In what have we wearied Him?' In your saying: `Every evil-doer good in the eyes of Jehovah, And in them He is delighting,' Or, `Where the God of judgment?'

Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, In what have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that does evil pleases the LORD, and he delights in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?