Malachi, Day 2 Readings

The Worship of Foreign Gods Continues  

Today's reading offers God's biting critique for the people who returned to Jerusalem after the exile.  Despite God's favor, they still have turned away from God's promises -- the covenant with God.  Like those before the exile, they seem to have become fascinated by foreign gods.  Perhaps this is because they continue to marry foreigners, who bring their traditions and teachings about other gods with them.

However, the problem quickly escalated.  Even the priests seem unable to properly identify what is good teaching from God and what is bad teaching from false gods.  Instead of helping the people to remain faithful to God, the priests have wrongly taught that certain bad habits and beliefs are okay in God's sight (which they are not).

Read Malachi 2:1-17  (NIV)   (NRSV)   (CEB)

[links to Bible Gateway open in a new window]

Reading the Bible in Its Entirety

If you are planning to read the Bible in its entirety, you should read Malachi 2 today.