^2:14Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young,¹⁹ to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.²⁰^2:15No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this.²¹ What did our ancestor²² do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.²³^2:16“I hate divorce,”²⁴ says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,”²⁵ says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

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Footnotes

19 Heb “the Lord is a witness between you and [between] the wife of your youth.”
20 Though there is no explicit reference to marriage vows in the OT (but see Job 7:13; Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8), the term law (Heb “covenant”) here asserts that such vows or agreements must have existed. References to divorce documents (e.g., Deut 24:1–3; Jer 3:8) also presuppose the existence of marriage documents.
21 Heb “and not one has done, and a remnant of the spirit to him.” The very elliptical nature of the statement suggests it is proverbial. The present translation represents an attempt to clarify the meaning of the statement (cf. ).
22 Heb “the one.” This is an oblique reference to Abraham who sought to obtain God’s blessing by circumventing God’s own plan for him by taking Hagar as wife (Gen 16:1–6). The result of this kind of intermarriage was, of course, disastrous (Gen 16:11–12).
23 The wife he took in his youth probably refers to the first wife one married (cf. “the wife you married when you were young”).
24 The verb שָׂנֵא (sane’) appears to be a third person form, “he hates,” which makes little sense in the context, unless one emends the following word to a third person verb as well. Then one might translate, “he [who] hates [his wife] [and] divorces her … is guilty of violence.” A similar translation is advocated by M. A. Shields, “Syncretism and Divorce in Malachi 2, 10–16,” 111 (1999): 81–85. However, it is possible that the first person pronoun אָנֹכִי (’anokhi, “I”) has accidentally dropped from the text after כִּי (ki). If one restores the pronoun, the form שָׂנֵא can be taken as a participle and the text translated, “for I hate” (so , , , ). Though the statement “I hate divorce” may (and should) be understood as a comprehensive biblical principle, the immediate context suggests that the divorce in view is that of one Jewish person by another in order to undertake subsequent marriages. The injunction here by no means contradicts Ezra’s commands to Jewish men to divorce their heathen wives (Ezra 9–10).
25 Heb “him who covers his garment with violence” (similar , ). Here “garment” is a metaphor for appearance and “violence” a metonymy of effect for cause. God views divorce as an act of violence against the victim.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

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. 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. “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.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

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

Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

“The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

And you ask, “Why?” Because even though the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, you have acted treacherously against her. She was your marriage partner and your wife by covenant. Didn’t God make them one and give them a portion of spirit? What is the one seeking? Godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, so that no one acts treacherously against the wife of his youth.

“If he hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord God of Israel, “he covers his garment with injustice,” says the Lord of Armies. Therefore, watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously.

NLTNew Living Translation

You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.

Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

But you ask, “For what reason?” Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she is your marriage partner and your wife by covenant. Did not one God make them? But a remnant of the spirit is his. And what does the one God desire? An offspring of God. You must be attentive to your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and he who covers his clothing with violence,” says Yahweh of hosts. “You must be attentive to your spirit and you must not be unfaithful.”

KJV 1900King James Version

Yet ye say, Wherefore?

Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth,

Against whom thou hast dealt treacherously:

Yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit.

And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed.

Therefore take heed to your spirit,

And let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away:

For one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts:

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

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