Malachi 2:9
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
The rebuke is addressed to the priests, the sons of Levi who had once stood as spiritual leaders. They came under divine judgment because they had not kept God's ways but had been partial in the law, applying it selectively rather than fully. That partiality took the form of obeying some requirements strictly while setting aside those that interfered with personal interests, especially those touching earthly treasures.
For this reason God Himself made them contemptible and base before all the people, so that by transgression they fell into public disgrace and lowness in the sight of the people. Their failure to teach and uphold the law corrupted their covenant with God, the covenant with Levi. By dealing treacherously with one another they also profaned the covenant of their fathers.
Their corrupt and imperfect example causes many others to stumble at the law, turning departure from the right path into a snare for others. To neglect the living principles of the law in this way misrepresents God's character. Yet God offered to renew with them the covenant of life and peace, which if faithfully kept would have brought untold blessing.