God’s Word Translation
Malachi 2:3
3“I’m going to punish your descendants. I’m going to spread excrement on your faces, the excrement from your festival sacrifices. You will be discarded with it.
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“And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 2If you won’t listen and if you won’t consider giving honor to my name,” says the Lord of Armies, “then I’ll send a curse on you, and I’ll curse the blessings you give. Yes, I’ve already cursed them because you don’t carefully consider this. “I’m going to punish your descendants. I’m going to spread excrement on your faces, the excrement from your festival sacrifices. You will be discarded with it. 4Then you will know that I sent you this warning so that my promise to Levi will continue,” says the Lord of Armies. 5“I promised Levi life and peace. I gave them to him so that he would respect me. He respected me and stood in awe of my name.
Read all of Malachi 2Malachi 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 1:17Seeds shrivel up in their shells. Storehouses are destroyed. Barns are ruined. The grain has dried up.
- Malachi 2:9“So I have made you disgusting, and I have humiliated you in front of all the people, because you have not followed my ways. You have been unfair when ⌞applying⌟ my teachings.”
- 1 Samuel 2:29Why do you show no respect for my sacrifices and grain offerings that I have commanded people to make in my dwelling place? Why do you honor your sons more than me by making yourselves fat on the best of all the sacrifices offered by my people Israel?
- 1 Kings 14:10“ ‘That is why I will bring disaster on Jeroboam’s house. I will destroy every male in his house, whether slave or freeman in Israel. I will burn down Jeroboam’s house. It will burn like manure until it is gone.
- 2 Kings 9:36They came back and told him. Jehu said, “The Lord spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe. He said, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body inside the walls of Jezreel.
- Job 20:7he will certainly rot like his own feces. Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
- Psalms 83:10They were destroyed at Endor. They became manure to fertilize the ground.
- Jeremiah 8:2They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. These are the things that they had loved, served, gone after, sought, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered or buried, but they will become manure on the ground.
- Nahum 3:6I will throw filth on you. I will make you look like a fool. I will make you a sight to be seen.
- Luke 14:35It’s not any good for the ground or for the manure pile. People throw it away. “Let the person who has ears listen!”
- 1 Corinthians 4:13When our reputations are attacked, we remain courteous. Right now we have become garbage in the eyes of the world and trash in the sight of all people.
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
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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