Stop searching everywhere for answers. Bible Gateway Plus puts trusted insights right alongside the passage you’re reading. Free 7-day trial.
Log In/Sign Up

#
Malachi 1
New International Version

1 A prophecy:(A) The word(B) of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.[a]

### Israel Doubts God’s Love

2 “I have loved(C) you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask,(D) ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,(E) 3 but Esau I have hated,(F) and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland(G) and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.(H)”

4 Edom(I) may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild(J) the ruins.”

But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish.(K) They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.(L) 5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great(M) is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’(N)

### Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices

6 “A son honors his father,(O) and a slave his master.(P) If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect(Q) due me?” says the Lord Almighty.(R)

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask,(S) ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

7 “By offering defiled food(T) on my altar.

“But you ask,(U) ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the Lord’s table(V) is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals,(W) is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased(X) with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.(Y)

9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings(Z) from your hands, will he accept(AA) you?”—says the Lord Almighty.

10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors,(AB) so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased(AC) with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept(AD) no offering(AE) from your hands. 11 My name will be great(AF) among the nations,(AG) from where the sun rises to where it sets.(AH) In every place incense(AI) and pure offerings(AJ) will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table(AK) is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food(AL) is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’(AM) and you sniff at it contemptuously,(AN)” says the Lord Almighty.

“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices,(AO) should I accept them from your hands?”(AP) says the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal(AQ) to the Lord. For I am a great king,(AR)” says the Lord Almighty,(AS) “and my name is to be feared(AT) among the nations.(AU)

#### Footnotes

1. Malachi 1:1 Malachi means my messenger.

#### Cross references

1. Malachi 1:1 : S Na 1:1
2. Malachi 1:1 : Ac 7:38; Ro 3:1-2; 1Pe 4:11
3. Malachi 1:2 : S Dt 4:37
4. Malachi 1:2 : ver 6, 7; Mal 2:14, 17; 3:7, 13
5. Malachi 1:2 : S Jer 46:27; Ro 9:13*
6. Malachi 1:3 : Lk 14:26
7. Malachi 1:3 : S Isa 34:10
8. Malachi 1:3 : S Isa 13:22
9. Malachi 1:4 : S Isa 11:14; S 34:11
10. Malachi 1:4 : Isa 9:10
11. Malachi 1:4 : S Isa 34:5
12. Malachi 1:4 : S La 4:22; S Eze 25:12-14; S 26:14
13. Malachi 1:5 : Ps 35:27; 48:1; Mic 5:4
14. Malachi 1:5 : Isa 45:22; 52:10; S Am 1:11-12
15. Malachi 1:6 : S Lev 20:9; Mt 15:4; 23:9
16. Malachi 1:6 : Lk 6:46
17. Malachi 1:6 : S Dt 31:12; S Isa 1:2
18. Malachi 1:6 : Job 5:17
19. Malachi 1:6 : S ver 2
20. Malachi 1:7 : ver 12; Lev 21:6
21. Malachi 1:7 : S ver 2
22. Malachi 1:7 : S Eze 23:41
23. Malachi 1:8 : S Lev 1:3; S Dt 15:21
24. Malachi 1:8 : S Ge 32:20
25. Malachi 1:8 : S Isa 43:23
26. Malachi 1:9 : Lev 23:33-44; Ps 51:17; Mic 6:6-8; Ro 12:1; Heb 13:16
27. Malachi 1:9 : S Jer 6:20
28. Malachi 1:10 : 2Ch 28:24
29. Malachi 1:10 : S Hos 5:6
30. Malachi 1:10 : Lev 22:20
31. Malachi 1:10 : ver 13; Isa 1:11-14; Jer 14:12; Mal 2:12
32. Malachi 1:11 : S Isa 24:15; 56:6
33. Malachi 1:11 : S Isa 6:3; S 12:4
34. Malachi 1:11 : S Ps 113:3; S Mt 8:11
35. Malachi 1:11 : Isa 60:6-7; Rev 5:8; 8:3
36. Malachi 1:11 : S Isa 19:21; Heb 13:15
37. Malachi 1:12 : S Eze 41:22
38. Malachi 1:12 : S ver 7
39. Malachi 1:13 : Isa 43:22-24
40. Malachi 1:13 : S Nu 14:11
41. Malachi 1:13 : S ver 10
42. Malachi 1:13 : S Dt 15:21
43. Malachi 1:14 : Ex 12:5; S Lev 22:18-21
44. Malachi 1:14 : Ps 95:3; S Ob 1:21; 1Ti 6:15
45. Malachi 1:14 : Jer 46:18
46. Malachi 1:14 : S Dt 28:58
47. Malachi 1:14 : Ps 72:8-11

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

### More on the NIV

- Unleash God's Word!

#### Bible Gateway Recommends

NIV Application Bible, Red Letter, Comfort Print: Bringing the Ancient Message of the Bible into Your World
Retail: $54.99
Our Price: $35.00
Save: $19.99 (36%)
Buy Now
NIV, The Story, Hardcover, Comfort Print: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People
Retail: $19.98
Our Price: $7.50
Save: $12.48 (62%)
Buy Now
NIV, The Woman's Study Bible, Full-Color, Red Letter: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation
Retail: $49.99
Our Price: $34.99
Save: $15.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Journal the Word Bible, Red Letter, Comfort Print: Reflect, Take Notes, or Create Art Next to Your Favorite Verses
Retail: $39.99
Our Price: $27.99
Save: $12.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Biblical Theology Study Bible, Comfort Print: Follow God’s Redemptive Plan as It Unfolds throughout Scripture
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Red Letter Edition: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
View more titles