Malachi 2:14
Yet you ask, 'Why?' Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your companion and the wife of your covenant.
Additional Resources
Other Translations
King James Version 1769 (Standard 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.
KJV1611 – Modern English
Yet you say, Why? Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and the wife of your covenant.
King James Version 1611 (Original)
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.
American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
Coverdale Bible (1535)
And yet ye saye: wherfore? Euen because that where as the LORDE made a couenaut betwixte ye and the wife off thy youth, thou hast despysed her: Yet is she thyne owne copanyon and maried wife.
Geneva Bible (1560)
Yet yee say, Wherein? Because the Lorde hath beene witnesse betweene thee and the wife of thy youth, against whome thou hast transgressed: yet is shee thy companion, and the wife of thy couenant.
Bishops' Bible (1568)
Yet ye say, wherin? Because the Lord hath ben witnesse betweene thee and thy wyfe of thy youth, against whom thou hast transgressed, yet is she thyne owne companion, and the wyfe of thy couenaunt.
Authorized King James Version (1611)
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.
Webster's Bible (1833)
Yet you say, 'Why?' Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)
And ye have said, `Wherefore?' Because Jehovah hath testified between thee And the wife of thy youth, That thou hast dealt treacherously against her, And she thy companion, and thy covenant-wife.
American Standard Version (1901)
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
American Standard Version (1901)
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
Bible in Basic English (1941)
But you say, For what reason? Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your early years, to whom you have been untrue, though she is your friend and the wife to whom you have given your word.
World English Bible (2000)
Yet you say, 'Why?' Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
NET Bible® (New English Translation)
Yet you ask,“Why?” The LORD is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.
Referenced Verses
- Isa 54:6 : 6 For the Lord has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like the wife of one’s youth who is rejected, says your God.
- Mal 3:5 : 5 I will come near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, and those who swear falsely; against those who defraud workers of their wages, oppress widows and orphans, and deprive foreigners of justice. They do not fear me, says the Lord of Hosts.
- Gen 2:18 : 18 Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is suitable for him.'
- Gen 31:50 : 50 If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.'
- 1 Sam 12:5 : 5 Samuel said to them, 'The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.' 'He is a witness,' they said.
- Prov 2:17 : 17 who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;
- Prov 5:18-19 : 18 May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, and may you always be captivated by her love.
- Prov 30:20 : 20 This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats, wipes her mouth, and says, 'I have done nothing wrong.'
- Eccl 9:9 : 9 Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your portion in life and in your hard work under the sun.
- Song 1:15 : 15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love! Behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are like doves.
- Judg 11:10 : 10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, 'The Lord is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.'
- Mal 3:8 : 8 Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you ask, 'How have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings.
- Isa 58:3 : 3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' Yet on the day of your fasting, you pursue your own desires and oppress all your workers.
- Jer 8:12 : 12 Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they do not feel any shame. They do not even know how to blush. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. At the time of their punishment, they will stumble, says the LORD.
- Jer 42:5 : 5 They said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to every word the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
- Ezek 16:8 : 8 Then I passed by you again and saw you, and behold, you were at the age for love. So I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I made my vow to you, entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine.
- Mic 1:2 : 2 Listen, all you peoples; pay attention, Earth and all that fills it! The Lord God will act as a witness against you from His holy temple.
- Mal 1:6-7 : 6 A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am a father, where is the honor I deserve? If I am a master, where is the respect due me? says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise my name. But you ask, 'How have we despised your name?' 7 By presenting defiled food on my altar. But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' By saying, 'The LORD's table is contemptible.'
- Mal 2:15 : 15 Did not God make them one, with a portion of His spirit in their union? And what was the one seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
Similar Verses (AI)
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
- Mal 2:15-173 verses84%
15Did not God make them one, with a portion of His spirit in their union? And what was the one seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
16For the Lord, the God of Israel, says that He hates divorce, and He covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of Hosts. Therefore, guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful.
17You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you ask, 'How have we wearied Him?' By saying, 'Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of the Lord, and He delights in them,' or 'Where is the God of justice?'
- 79%
20But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,' declares the LORD.
- Jer 3:1-22 verses78%
1If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, should he take her back again? Wouldn't such a land become completely defiled? You have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—yet you want to return to me? declares the LORD.
2Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Where have you not been violated? By the roads you sat waiting for lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
- 76%
13And this is another thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, weeping and groaning, because He no longer regards your offering or accepts it with favor from your hands.
- 76%
6For the Lord has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like the wife of one’s youth who is rejected, says your God.
- Mal 2:8-114 verses76%
8But you have turned aside from the way, and by your teaching have caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant with Levi, says the Lord of Hosts.
9So I have also made you despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not kept My ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.
10Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then do we deal treacherously with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
11Judah has been unfaithful, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
- 75%
17who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;
- 75%
15What right does my beloved have in my house, when she has done so many wicked schemes? Can consecrated meat remove your evil? Then you would exult!
- 73%
2The people of Judah and Israel will come together, appoint one leader, and rise up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
- 73%
14Return, faithless children,' declares the LORD, 'for I am your master. I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.
- 72%
18May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth.
- 72%
32You adulterous wife, who prefers strangers instead of her own husband!
- 72%
7But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they dealt treacherously with Me.
- 72%
2Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: ‘This is what the LORD says: I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
- 72%
20But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and defiled yourself, and if a man other than your husband has had sexual relations with you—
- Ezek 16:58-614 verses72%
58You have borne the penalty of your lewdness and abominations, declares the LORD.
59For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you as you have done, since you despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
60Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
- 72%
20For long ago I broke your yoke and tore off your bonds, but you said, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.
- 71%
7How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by false gods. I satisfied them, but they committed adultery and gathered at the houses of prostitutes.
- 71%
33How skilled you are at pursuing love! Even the worst of women you have taught your ways.
- 71%
9Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
- 71%
32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them, declares the LORD.
- Num 5:12-132 verses71%
12Speak to the Israelites: If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,
13and another man has sexual relations with her secretly, and it is hidden from her husband, and she is not caught but has become defiled, even though there is no witness against her,
- 71%
13Your words against me have been harsh, says the Lord. But you ask, 'What have we spoken against you?
- 71%
14accusing her of misconduct and giving her a bad name by saying, 'I married this woman, but when I came to her, I did not find proof of her virginity,'
- 71%
43Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will bring your conduct down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your other detestable acts?
- Jer 3:7-82 verses71%
7I thought, 'After she has done all this, she will return to me.' But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
8I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and prostituted herself.
- 70%
30You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not enjoy its fruit.
- 70%
17You also took the fine jewelry made of gold and silver that I had given you, and you made male idols for yourself and engaged in prostitution with them.
- 70%
7Their mother has been unfaithful; their conceiver acted shamefully. She said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread, water, wool, flax, oil, and drink.'
- Hos 2:19-202 verses70%
19I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; their names will no longer be remembered.
20On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that move along the ground. I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.
- 70%
1This is what the LORD says: Where is the certificate of divorce for your mother, whom I sent away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Behold, because of your sins, you were sold, and because of your transgressions, your mother was sent away.
- 70%
29Why do you bring charges against me? You have all rebelled against me,” declares the LORD.
- 70%
15Though you, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah become guilty. Do not go to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth Aven, and do not swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives!'
- 70%
11This is what the Lord says: 'Look, I am going to bring disaster upon you from within your own household. I will take your wives before your very eyes and give them to someone close to you, who will sleep with them in broad daylight.
- 70%
28You prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you were never satisfied. Even after prostituting yourself with them, you were not satisfied.
- 70%
10In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense, declares the LORD.
- 70%
17Therefore, this is what the Lord says: 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be divided up with a measuring line, and you yourself will die in a polluted land. Israel will surely go into exile away from their homeland.'
- 70%
9Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in His eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites!