7. A priest should know God’s teachings. People should be able to go to a priest and learn God’s teachings. A priest should be the Lord’S messenger to the people.
8. “But you priests stopped following me! You used the teachings to make people do wrong. You ruined the agreement with Levi.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
9. “You don’t live the way I told you. You have not accepted my teachings. So I will cause people to hate you and think you are worth nothing.”
10. We all have the same father. The same God made every one of us. So why do people cheat one another? They show that they don’t respect the agreement. They don’t respect the agreement that our ancestors made with God.
11. The people of Judah cheated other people. People in Jerusalem and Israel did terrible things. God loves the Temple, but the people in Judah didn’t respect the Lord’S holy Temple. The people of Judah began to worship a foreign goddess.
12. The Lord will remove them from Judah’s family. They might bring gifts to the Lord All-Powerful—but it will not help.
13. You can cry and cover the Lord’S altar with tears, but the Lord will not accept your gifts. He will not be pleased with the things you bring to him.