Malachi 2:3

Malachi 2:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
• New International Version (NIV)“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it.

Context of Malachi 2:3

1“Therefore, this decree is for you priests: 2If you don’t listen, and if you don’t take it to heart to honor my name,” says the Lord of Armies, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart. “Look, I am going to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread animal waste over your faces, the waste from your festival sacrifices, and you will be taken away with it. 4Then you will know that I sent you this decree, so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord of Armies. 5“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.

Malachi 2:3 word by word

הִנְנִ֨י גֹעֵ֤ר לָכֶם֙ אֶת־הַזֶּ֔רַע וְזֵרִ֤יתִי פֶ֙רֶשׁ֙ עַל־פְּנֵיכֶ֔ם פֶּ֖רֶשׁ חַגֵּיכֶ֑ם וְנָשָׂ֥א אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֵלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold, I will corruptגָּעַרgâ‛ar · to rebukeH1605
• your seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
• and spreadזָרָהzârâh · to scatterH2219
• dungפֶּ֫רֶשׁperesh · fæcal matterH6569
• upon your facesפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440
• of your solemn feastsחַגchag châg · feastH2282
• shall take you awayנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375

Cross-references for Malachi 2:3

• Joel 1:17The seeds lie shriveled in their casings. The storehouses are in ruin, and the granaries are broken down, because the grain has withered away.
• Malachi 2:9“So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people because you are not keeping my ways but are showing partiality in your instruction.”
• 1 Samuel 2:29Why, then, do all of you despise my sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship? You have honored your sons more than me, by making yourselves fat with the best part of all of the offerings of my people Israel.’
• 1 Kings 14:10Because of all this, I am about to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will wipe out all of Jeroboam’s males, both slave and free, in Israel; I will sweep away the house of Jeroboam as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone!
• 2 Kings 9:36So they went back and told him, and he said, “This fulfills the Lord’s word that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, the dogs will eat Jezebel’s flesh.
• Job 20:7he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, “Where is he?”
• Psalms 83:10They were destroyed at En-dor; they became manure for the ground.
• Jeremiah 8:2They will be exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky, which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the soil’s surface.
• Nahum 3:6I will throw filth on you and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.
• Luke 14:35It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”
• 1 Corinthians 4:13when we are slandered, we respond graciously. Even now, we are like the scum of the earth, like everyone’s garbage.

Commentaries on Malachi 2:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Behold, I will corrupt your seed - So as to render it unfruitful. Newcome translates, - "I will take away from you the shoulder." This was the part that belonged to the priest, Leviticus 7:32; Deuteronomy 18:3. Spread dung upon your faces - Instead of receiving a sacrifice at your hands, I will throw your offerings back into your faces. Here God shows his contempt for them and their offerings.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Lo, I will rebuke the seed for your sake - oi. e., that it should not grow. He who worketh by His sustaining will all the operations of nature, would at His will withhold them. Neither priests nor Levites cultivated the soil; yet, since the tithes were assigned to them, the diminution of the harvest affected them. The meal-offering too was a requisite part of the sacrifice. (See also Joel 1:13; Joel 2:14.) And spread dung upon your phaces, the dung o of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-9Malachi’s second message confirms the Lord as God and father of Israel. God alone deserves true worship. The first part (Malachi 1:6–14) shows how the Israelites dishonored God despite his fatherly care and great power. The second part (Malachi 2:1–9) warns the priests of Judah against sacrificing sick and defective animals and criticizes them for not teaching God’s instructions (2:6–8).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. corrupt, &c.--literally, "rebuke," answering to the opposite prophecy of blessing (Mal 3:11), "I will rebuke the devourer." To rebuke the seed is to forbid its growing. your--literally, "for you"; that is, to your hurt. dung of ... solemn feasts--The dung in the maw of the victims sacrificed on the feast days; the maw was the perquisite of the priests (De 18:3), which gives peculiar point to the threat here. You shall get the dung of the maw as your…Read the comment

Topics related to Malachi 2:3

• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Corrupt
• Profane
• Wherein
• Dung; Dung Gate
• Malachi
• Priests and Levites

Commentaries on Malachi 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings