For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him ¹  because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all.

“Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your ¹  instruction.”

No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. ¹  What did our ancestor ²  do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. ³ 

“I hate divorce,” ¹  says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” ²  says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

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?’

You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ¹  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ²