Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

¹⁰ Do we not all have one Father^[a]?^(A) Did not one God create us?^(B) Why do we profane the covenant^(C) of our ancestors by being unfaithful^(D) to one another?

¹¹ Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable^(E) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves^(F) by marrying^(G) women who worship a foreign god.^{(H) 12} As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove^(I) him from the tents of Jacob^[b](J)—even though he brings an offering^(K) to the Lord Almighty.

¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.^(L) You weep and wail^(M) because he no longer looks with favor^(N) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.^{(O) 14} You ask,^(P) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness^(Q) between you and the wife of your youth.^(R) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.^(S)

¹⁵ Has not the one God made you?^(T) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.^[c](U) So be on your guard,^(V) and do not be unfaithful^(W) to the wife of your youth.

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

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

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

¹⁷ You have wearied^(AA) the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.^(AB)

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased^(AC) with them” or “Where is the God of justice?^(AD)”

3 “I will send my messenger,^(AE) who will prepare the way before me.^(AF) Then suddenly the Lord^(AG) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(AH) whom you desire,^(AI) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

² But who can endure^(AJ) the day of his coming?^(AK) Who can stand^(AL) when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire^(AM) or a launderer’s soap.^{(AN) 3} He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;^(AO) he will purify^(AP) the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.^(AQ) Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,^{(AR) 4} and the offerings^(AS) of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.^(AT)

⁵ “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,^(AU) adulterers^(AV) and perjurers,^(AW) against those who defraud laborers of their wages,^(AX) who oppress the widows^(AY) and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners^(AZ) among you of justice, but do not fear^(BA) me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

⁶ “I the Lord do not change.^(BB) So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.^{(BC) 7} Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away^(BD) from my decrees and have not kept them. Return^(BE) to me, and I will return to you,”^(BF) says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask,^(BG) ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob^(BH) God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes^(BI) and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse^(BJ)—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe^(BK) into the storehouse,^(BL) that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates^(BM) of heaven and pour out^(BN) so much blessing^(BO) that there will not be room enough to store it.^{(BP) 11} I will prevent pests from devouring^(BQ) your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,^(BR)” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed,^(BS) for yours will be a delightful land,”^(BT) says the Lord Almighty.^(BU)

Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God

¹³ “You have spoken arrogantly^(BV) against me,” says the Lord.

“Yet you ask,^(BW) ‘What have we said against you?’

¹⁴ “You have said, ‘It is futile^(BX) to serve^(BY) God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements^(BZ) and going about like mourners^(CA) before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵ But now we call the arrogant^(CB) blessed. Certainly evildoers^(CC) prosper,^(CD) and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

The Faithful Remnant

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.^(CE) A scroll^(CF) of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared^(CG) the Lord and honored his name.

¹⁷ “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my^(CH) treasured possession.^(CI) I will spare^(CJ) them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son^(CK) who serves him. ¹⁸ And you will again see the distinction between the righteous^(CL) and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.^(CM)

Judgment and Covenant Renewal

4 ^[e]“Surely the day is coming;^(CN) it will burn like a furnace.^(CO) All the arrogant^(CP) and every evildoer will be stubble,^(CQ) and the day that is coming will set them on fire,^(CR)” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch^(CS) will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name,^(CT) the sun of righteousness^(CU) will rise with healing^(CV) in its rays. And you will go out and frolic^(CW) like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample^(CX) on the wicked; they will be ashes^(CY) under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

⁴ “Remember the law^(CZ) of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb^(DA) for all Israel.^(DB)

⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah^(DC) to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.^{(DD) 6} He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children,^(DE) and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike^(DF) the land with total destruction.”^(DG)