Malachi 1:2

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob

Malachi 3:7

3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored ¹  my commandments ²  and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord who rules over all. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’

Malachi 3:14

3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ³  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ⁴ 

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¹ tn Heb “turned aside from.”

² tn Or “statutes” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “decrees”; NLT “laws.”

³ tn Heb “What [is the] profit”; NIV “What did we gain.”

⁴ sn The people’s public display of self-effacing piety has gone unrewarded by the Lord. The reason, of course, is that it was blatantly hypocritical.