Malachi 2:10-17

Judah's Marital Unfaithfulness

10 Don't all of us have one Father?[a] Didn't one God create us?[b] Why then do we act treacherously against one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?[c]
11 Judah has acted treacherously, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the Lord's sanctuary,[d][e] which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.[f][g]
12 To the man who does this, may the Lord cut off any descendants[h][i] from the tents of Jacob, even if they present an offering to the Lord of Hosts.
13 And this is another thing you do: you cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because He no longer respects your offerings or receives [them] gladly[j] from your hands.
14 Yet you ask, "For what reason?" Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have acted treacherously against her,[k] though she was your marriage partner and your wife by covenant.
15 Didn't the one [God] make [us] with a remnant of His life-breath? And what does the One seek?[l] A godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully,[m] and do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth.
16 "If he hates and divorces [his wife],"[n] says the Lord God of Israel, "he[o] covers his garment with injustice,"[p] says the Lord of Hosts. Therefore, watch yourselves carefully,[q] and do not act treacherously.

Judgment at the Lord's Coming

17 You have wearied the Lord [r] with your words. Yet you ask, "How have we wearied [Him]?" When you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord's sight, and He is pleased with them," or "Where is the God of justice?"[s]

Footnotes 19

  • [a]. Mal 1:6; Isa 63:16; Hs 11:1
  • [b]. Dt 32:6; Isa 43:1-7; 64:8
  • [c]. Mal 1:12; Ps 55:20; 89:34
  • [d]. Or profaned what is holy to the Lord
  • [e]. Ezk 44:7
  • [f]. a woman who worshiped a foreign god; Nm 21:29
  • [g]. Dt 7:3-4; Ezr 9:1-2,10-14; Neh 13:23-30
  • [h]. One Hb ms, LXX, DSS read off one witnessing or answering
  • [i]. Lit off one waking or answering; Hb obscure
  • [j]. 1 Kg 8:28-30; Isa 56:7
  • [k]. Pr 2:16-17; Isa 54:6
  • [l]. Or Did the One not make them? So their flesh and spirit belong to Him, or No one who does this even has a remnant of the Spirit in him; Hb obscure
  • [m]. Lit So guard yourselves in your spirit
  • [n]. Gn 29:31; Dt 21:15-17; Jdg 15:2
  • [o]. Or The Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce and the one who
  • [p]. Gn 6:11,13; Ps 73:6; Jr 6:6-7
  • [q]. Lit Therefore, guard yourselves in your spirit
  • [r]. Isa 43:22-24
  • [s]. Neh 9:33; Isa 40:27
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