1 والآنَ إليكُم مِنَ الرّبِّ هذِهِ الوصيَّةَ أيُّها الكهَنةُ: 2 «إنْ كُنتُم لا تَسمَعونَ ولا تُبالونَ أنْ تُعطُوا مَجدا لاسمي. أنا الرّبُّ القديرُ، أُرسِلُ عليكُمُ اللَّعنةَ وأجعَلُ بَركتَكُم لعنةً، بل إنِّي لعنْتُها لأنَّكُم لم تُبالوا بوصيَّتي. 3 ها أنا أمنَعُ عَنكُمُ الزَّرعَ وأرمي وجوهَكُم بالزِّبْلِ، زِبْلِ ذبائِـحِ أعيادِكُم، وأُبعدُكُم عنِّي، 4 فتعلمونَ أنِّي أرسلْتُ إليكُم بهذِهِ الوصيَّةِ ليثبُتَ عَهدي معَ لاوي أبـيكُم. 5 كانَ عَهدي معَهُ للحياةِ والسَّلامِ، فأعطيتُهما لَه ليخافَني، فخافَني وهابَ اسمي. 6 شريعةُ الحَقِّ كانَت في فَمِهِ ولا جَورَ في شفَتَيهِ. سارَ معي بالسَّلامِ والاستقامةِ ورَدَّ كثيرا مِنَ النَّاسِ عَنِ الإثْمِ. 7 شفَتا الكاهنِ تَحفَظانِ المعرِفةَ، ومِنْ فَمِهِ تُطلَبُ الشَّريعةُ لأنَّهُ رسولُ الرّبِّ القديرِ».
8 وقالَ الرّبُّ القديرُ: «أمَّا أنتُم فحِدتُمُ الآنَ عَنِ الطَّريقِ، وجعلتُم كثيرا مِنَ النَّاسِ يرتابونَ في الشَّريعةِ، ونَقَضْتُم عَهدَ لاوي أبـيكُم. أيُّها الكهنَةُ 9 فأنا أيضا أجعَلُكُم مَنبوذينَ سافِلينَ عِندَ جميعِ الشَّعبِ، بقَدْرِ ما لم تَحفَظوا طُرُقي، وحابَيتُم هذا وذاكَ في أحكامِكُم».
خيانة الشعب
10 أمَا لنا كُلِّنا أبٌ واحدٌ؟ أمَا إلهٌ واحدٌ خلَقَنا؟ فلِماذا يَغدُرُ الواحدُ بالآخَرِ مُدَنِّسا عَهدَ اللهِ معَ آبائِنا؟ 11 غدَرَ بَيتُ يَهوذا بالرّبِّ فعمِلُوا الرِّجْسَ في أرضِ إِسرائيلَ وفي أُورُشليمَ، لأنَّهُم دَنَّسوا مَقدِسَ الرّبِّ، فأحَبُّوا وتَزَوَّجوا بناتِ آلهةٍ غريـبةٍ. 12 فسيقطَعُ الرّبُّ مِنْ مساكِنِ يَعقوبَ كُلَّ مَنْ يفعَلُ هذا، سيِّدا كانَ أو مسُودا، ولو أنَّهُ قرَّبَ تقدِمةً إلى الرّبِّ القديرِ.
13 وهذا أيضا فعَلتُم: غمَرتُم مذبحَ الرّبِّ بدموعِ البُكاءِ والنَّحيـبِ، لأنَّهُ لا يَلتَفِتُ إلى التَّقدمةِ مِنْ بَعدُ ولا يَرضى بها مِنْ أيديكُم. 14 وتقولونَ: لماذا؟ فأقولُ لكُم: لأنَّ الرّبَّ كانَ شاهدا بَينكَ وبَينَ امرأةِ شَبابِكَ الّتي غدَرْتَ بها وهيَ قرينَتُكَ والمرأةُ الّتي عاهدْتَها على الوفاءِ. 15 أمَا هوَ اللهُ الّذي خَلقَ مِنكُما كائنا واحدا لَه جسَدٌ وروحٌ؟ وماذا يَطلُبُ هذا الكائِنُ الواحدُ؟ إنَّه يَطلُبُ نَسلا لَه مِنَ اللهِ. فاحذرُوا ولا يَغدُرْ أحدٌ بامرأةِ شبابِهِ. 16 فمَنْ أبغضَ فَطلَّقَ، قالَ الرّبُّ إلهُ إسرائيلَ، يَلبَسُ لِباسَ العُنْفِ. فاحذرُوا ولا تغدُروا. قالَ الرّبُّ القديرُ.
17 أتعبتُمُ الرّبَّ بكلامِكُم وتقولونَ: كيفَ أتعبناهُ؟ أتعبتُموهُ بقولِكُم: كُلُّ مَنْ يفعَلُ الشَّرَّ فهوَ صالحٌ في نَظرِ الرّبِّ وبهِ يُسَرُّ، أو بقولِكُم: أينَ إلهُ العَدلِ؟
1 The Lord Almighty says to the priests, “This command is for you: 2 You must honor me by what you do. If you will not listen to what I say, then I will bring a curse on you. I will put a curse on the things you receive for your support. In fact, I have already put a curse on them, because you do not take my command seriously. 3 I will punish your children and rub your faces in the dung of the animals you sacrifice—and you will be taken out to the dung heap. 4 Then you will know that I have given you this command, so that my covenant with the priests, the descendants of Levi, will not be broken.
5 “In my covenant I promised them life and well-being, and this is what I gave them, so that they might respect me. In those days they did respect and fear me. 6 They taught what was right, not what was wrong. They lived in harmony with me; they not only did what was right themselves, but they also helped many others to stop doing evil. 7 It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the Lord Almighty.
8 “But now you priests have turned away from the right path. Your teaching has led many to do wrong. You have broken the covenant I made with you. 9 So I, in turn, will make the people of Israel despise you because you do not obey my will, and when you teach my people, you do not treat everyone alike.”
The People's Unfaithfulness to God
10 Don't we all have the same father? Didn't the same God create us all? Then why do we break our promises to one another, and why do we despise the covenant that God made with our ancestors? 11 The people of Judah have broken their promise to God and done a horrible thing in Jerusalem and all over the country. They have defiled the Temple which the Lord loves. Men have married women who worship foreign gods. 12 May the Lord remove from the community of Israel those who did this, and never again let them participate in the offerings our nation brings to the Lord Almighty.
13 This is another thing you do. You drown the Lord's altar with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer accepts the offerings you bring him. 14 You ask why he no longer accepts them. It is because he knows you have broken your promise to the wife you married when you were young. She was your partner, and you have broken your promise to her, although you promised before God that you would be faithful to her. 15 Didn't God make you one body and spirit with her? What was his purpose in this? It was that you should have children who are truly God's people. So make sure that none of you breaks his promise to his wife. 16 “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel. “I hate it when one of you does such a cruel thing to his wife. Make sure that you do not break your promise to be faithful to your wife.”
The Day of Judgment Is Near
17 You have tired the Lord out with your talk. But you ask, “How have we tired him?” By saying, “The Lord Almighty thinks all evildoers are good; in fact he likes them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God who is supposed to be just?”