Malachi 2
The full text of Malachi 2 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 "And now, O priests, this command is for you.
2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you will be taken away with it.
4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand," says the LORD of hosts.
5 "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.
6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.
7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of hosts.
9 "So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction."
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12 May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this — anyone who is awake or who answers — yet who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!
13 And this second thing you do: You cover the LORD's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.
14 But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
16 "For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "covers his garment with violence," says the LORD of hosts. "So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless."
17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them." Or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?"
Translation notes (5)
- Malachi 2:7a The Hebrew phrase malʾāk YHWH ṣəbāʾōt means 'messenger of the LORD of hosts.' The word malʾāk is the same word used for the book's title.
- Malachi 2:14a The Hebrew phrase ʾēšet bərîtĕkā means 'wife of your covenant,' emphasizing that marriage is explicitly a covenant.
- Malachi 2:15a Extremely difficult Hebrew. The 'one' likely refers back to Gen 2:24. God's purpose in marital unity: godly seed.
- Malachi 2:16a BATTLEGROUND: The Hebrew of this verse is notoriously difficult. MT reads kî-śānēʾ šallaḥ — lit. 'for he hates, sending away.' Three major interpretive traditions: (1) 'For I hate divorce' (traditional, reading God as subject — Vulgate, KJV, many); (2) 'The one who hates and divorces' (reading the husband as subject, 3ms — ESV, CSB); (3) 'If he hates her, let him divorce her' (conditional permission, unlikely given context). The LXX reads 'but if, having hated, you divorce.' TBV follows reading (2) because: the 3ms verb forms (śānēʾ, šallaḥ) most naturally have a human subject after v.15's 2mp address; the parallel 'covers his garment with violence' (3ms) supports a human subject throughout; and this reading preserves the stronger prophetic rebuke against faithless husbands while avoiding the theological problem of attributing 'hate' directly to God regarding a practice he elsewhere regulates (Deut 24:1–4). However, reading (1) remains defensible and is noted for transparency.
- Malachi 2:16b Heb. kissāh ḥāmās ʿal-ləbûšō — 'covers violence over his garment.' Garment may symbolize the marriage covenant (cf. Ruth 3:9; Ezek 16:8).
About this translation
You are reading the Trinity Bible Version (TBV) — an original 2026 translation made straight from the Hebrew, in clear modern English, exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter of every book is free to read online. For the study edition — with Hebrew and Greek on every verse and the full translation notes — open Malachi in the Trinity Bible app.
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