5. You people saw these things, and you said, “The Lord is great, even outside of Israel!”
6. The Lord All-Powerful said, “Children honor their fathers. Servants honor their masters. I am your Father, so why don’t you honor me? I am your master, so why don’t you respect me? You priests don’t respect my name. “But you say, ‘What have we done that shows we don’t respect your name?’
7. “You bring unclean bread to my altar. “But you ask, ‘What makes that bread unclean?’ “It is unclean because you show no respect for the altar of the Lord.
8. You bring blind animals as sacrifices, and that is wrong. You bring sick and crippled animals for sacrifices, and that is wrong. Try giving those sick animals as a gift to your governor. Would he accept those sick animals? No, he would not accept them.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
9. “Now try asking God to be good to you. But he will not listen to you, and it is all your fault.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
10. “I wish one of you would close the Temple doors to stop the lighting of useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you. I will not accept your gifts.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
11. “People all around the world respect my name. All around the world they bring good gifts to me and burn good incense as a gift to me, because my name is important to all of them.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.