Malachi 1:12

1:12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings ¹  despicable.

Malachi 3:8

3:8 Can a person rob ²  God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! ³ 

Malachi 3:12

3:12 “All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in ⁴  a delightful land,” says the Lord who rules over all.

¹ tn Heb “fruit.” The following word “food” in the Hebrew text (אָכְלוֹ, ’okhlo) appears to be an explanatory gloss to clarify the meaning of the rare word נִיב (niv, “fruit”; see Isa 57:19 Qere; נוֹב, nov, “fruit,” in Kethib). Cf. ASV “the fruit thereof, even its food.” In this cultic context the reference is to the offerings on the altar.

² tc The LXX presupposes an underlying Hebrew text of עָקַב (’aqav, “deceive”), a metathesis of קָבַע (qava’, “rob”), in all four uses of the verb here (vv. 8-9). The intent probably is to soften the impact of “robbing” God, but the language of the passage is intentionally bold and there is no reason to go against the reading of the MT (which is followed here by most English versions).

³ sn The tithes and contributions mentioned here are probably those used to sustain the Levites (see Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).

³ tn Heb “will be” (so NAB, NRSV); TEV “your land will be a good place to live in.”