Add parallel Print Page Options

14 Yet you say, “Why?” It is because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously. Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

15 Did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.

16 For the Lord, the God of Israel, says that He hates divorce; for it covers one’s garment with violence, says the Lord of Hosts.

Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.

Read full chapter

14 You ask,(A) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness(B) between you and the wife of your youth.(C) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.(D)

15 Has not the one God made you?(E) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.[a](F) So be on your guard,(G) and do not be unfaithful(H) to the wife of your youth.

16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,(I)” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”[b](J) says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard,(K) and do not be unfaithful.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Malachi 2:15 The meaning of the Hebrew for the first part of this verse is uncertain.
  2. Malachi 2:16 Or “I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “because the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,”