New Century Version NCV
Good News Translation GNT
1 "Priests, this command is for you.
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The Lord Almighty says to the priests, "This command is for you:
2 Listen to me. Pay attention to what I say. Honor my name," says the Lord All-Powerful. "If you don't, I will send a curse on you and on your blessings. I have already cursed them, because you don't pay attention to what I say.
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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 descendants. I will smear your faces with the animal insides left from your feasts, and you will be thrown away with it.
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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 am giving you this command so my agreement with Levi will continue," says the Lord All-Powerful.
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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 "My agreement for priests was with the tribe of Levi. I promised them life and peace so they would honor me. And they did honor me and fear me.
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"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 the true teachings and spoke no lies. With peace and honesty they did what I said they should do, and they kept many people from sinning.
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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 "A priest should teach what he knows, and people should learn the teachings from him, because he is the messenger of the Lord All-Powerful.
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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 you priests have stopped obeying me. With your teachings you have caused many people to do wrong. You have broken the agreement with the tribe of Levi!" says the Lord All-Powerful.
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"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 "You have not been careful to do what I say, but instead you take sides in court cases. So I have caused you to be hated and disgraced in front of everybody."
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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."
10 We all have the same father; the same God made us. So why do people break their promises to each other and show no respect for the agreement our ancestors made with God?
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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 promises. They have done something God hates in Israel and Jerusalem: The people of Judah did not respect the Temple that the Lord loves, and the men of Judah married women who worship foreign gods.
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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 Whoever does this might bring offerings to the Lord All-Powerful, but the Lord will still cut that person off from the community of Israel.
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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 cover the Lord's altar with your tears. You cry and moan, because he does not accept your offerings and is not pleased with what you bring.
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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?" It is because the Lord sees how you treated the wife you married when you were young. You broke your promise to her, even though she was your partner and you had an agreement with her.
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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 God made husbands and wives to become one body and one spirit for his purpose -- so they would have children who are true to God. So be careful, and do not break your promise to the wife you married when you were young.
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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 The Lord God of Israel says, "I hate divorce. And I hate people who do cruel things as easily as they put on clothes," says the Lord All-Powerful. So be careful. And do not break your trust.
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"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."
17 You have tired the Lord with your words. You ask, "How have we tired him?" You did it by saying, "The Lord thinks anyone who does evil is good, and he is pleased with them." Or you asked, "Where is the God who is fair?"
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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?"
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.