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.

The Faithful Remnant

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

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

Judgment and Covenant Renewal

4 ^[a]“Surely the day is coming;^(J) it will burn like a furnace.^(K) All the arrogant^(L) and every evildoer will be stubble,^(M) and the day that is coming will set them on fire,^(N)” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch^(O) will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name,^(P) the sun of righteousness^(Q) will rise with healing^(R) in its rays. And you will go out and frolic^(S) like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample^(T) on the wicked; they will be ashes^(U) under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

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

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