Chapter
1 2 3 4
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Malachi 1:14

ESV Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
NIV "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the Lord Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.
NASB But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,' says the Lord of armies, 'and My name is feared among the nations.'
CSB "The deceiver is cursed who has an acceptable male in his flock and makes a vow but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King," says the Lord of Armies, "and my name will be feared among the nations.
NLT Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,' says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, 'and my name is feared among the nations!
KJV But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
NKJV “But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male, And takes a vow, But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished— For I am a great King,” Says the Lord of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations.

What does Malachi 1:14 mean?

A major factor in Israel's sin is the fact that they have everything necessary to properly honor God. And yet, out of laziness, bitterness, and apathy, they insult God by bringing impure offerings. According to this verse, those who promise God a proper offering, then substitute something less, are actually "cheating" Him. This is certainly immoral, but it's also disrespectful. In modern terms, this is known as a bait-and-switch, where what's delivered is much less than what was promised. Attempting this scam implies that the victim is too weak, stupid, or gullible to be worth fair dealings.

Applied to God, this is unbelievably arrogant. According to verse 10, God would prefer to see no worship at all rather than worship which comes in impure form, or from an impure heart. The attitude expressed here shows another facet of why. Giving God less than He is due, as though He were a sucker to take advantage of, is both immoral and degrading.

As was warned in verse 11, God will be properly honored, with or without Israel. "The nations," as used here, means the Gentiles, or all of the non-Jewish people of the world. Predicting that these non-believing and unclean people will one day respect God, while His own chosen people are insulting Him, is meant to shame Israel's spiritual leaders.
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