This haftarah opens with one of the most direct lines in the whole prophetic corpus: God declares through Malachi that Jacob has been loved and Esau hated, pointing to Esau's descendants, Edom, left as a wasteland while Jacob's line endures, offered as proof of a deliberate distinction between the two rather than an arbitrary one.
The prophet then turns to a sharp rebuke of the priesthood, who offer blind, lame and sick animals on the altar, blemished sacrifices they would never dare present as a gift to an earthly governor, and Malachi contrasts this careless service with the reverence due to a great king, noting that God's name is feared among the nations even while His own priests treat Him with contempt through the poor quality of their offerings.
The haftarah closes describing the covenant of life and peace given to Levi in exchange for genuine reverence, contrasting true priestly instruction, which turns people from iniquity, with the corrupted priesthood the prophet has just condemned, closing on the statement that the priest's lips should guard knowledge since he is a messenger of the God of hosts.
The haftarah's attention to blemished offerings also returns, by contrast, to the theme of birthright and blessing that runs through the parashah itself, since both concern something owed its proper honor, a sacrifice or a birthright, being treated instead as a matter of indifference by those who should have valued it most.