New English Translation
Malachi 2:17
17You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”
Malachi 2:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
- New International Version (NIV)You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)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?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)You have wearied the Lord with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
Context of Malachi 2:17
15No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor 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. 16“I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.” You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”
Read all of Malachi 2Malachi 2:17 word by word
הוֹגַעְתֶּ֤ם יְהוָה֙ בְּדִבְרֵיכֶ֔ם וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם בַּמָּ֣ה הוֹגָ֑עְנוּ בֶּאֱמָרְכֶ֗ם כָּל־עֹ֨שֵׂה רָ֜ע ט֣וֹב׀ בְּעֵינֵ֣י יְהוָ֗ה וּבָהֶם֙ ה֣וּא חָפֵ֔ץ א֥וֹ אַיֵּ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י הַמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Ye have weariedיָגֵעַyâga‛ · be weary/toilH3021
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- with your wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
- Yet ye sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Every one that doethעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
- goodטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
- in the sightעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
- and he delightethחָפֵץchâphêts · to delight inH2654
- the Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- of judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941
Cross-references for Malachi 2:17
- Psalms 95:9where your ancestors challenged my authority, and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
- Isaiah 1:14I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies; they are a burden that I am tired of carrying.
- Isaiah 7:13So Isaiah replied, “Pay attention, family of David. Do you consider it too insignificant to try the patience of men? Is that why you are also trying the patience of my God?
- Isaiah 43:24You did not buy me aromatic reeds; you did not present to me the fat of your sacrifices. Yet you burdened me with your sins; you made me weary with your evil deeds.
- Jeremiah 15:6I, the Lord, say: ‘You people have deserted me! You keep turning your back on me.’ So I have unleashed my power against you and have begun to destroy you. I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!”
- Ezekiel 16:43“‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth and have enraged me with all these deeds, I hereby repay you for what you have done, declares the sovereign Lord. Have you not engaged in prostitution on top of all your other abominable practices?
- Amos 2:13Look! I will press you down, like a cart loaded down with grain presses down.
- Malachi 2:14Yet 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.
- Malachi 1:6“A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’
- Malachi 3:8Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions!
- Malachi 3:13“You have criticized me sharply,” says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’
- Job 34:5For Job says, ‘I am innocent, but God turns away my right.
- Job 36:17But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked, judgment and justice take hold of you.
- Psalms 73:3For I envied those who are proud, as I observed the prosperity of the wicked.
- Matthew 11:18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’
- Deuteronomy 32:4As for the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. He is a reliable God who is never unjust, he is fair and upright.
Commentaries on Malachi 2:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Ye have wearied the Lord - He has borne with you so long, and has been provoked so often, that he will bear it no longer. It is not fit that he should. Every one that doeth evil - Ye say that it is right in the sight of the Lord to put away a wife, because she has no longer found favor in the sight of her husband. And because it has not been signally punished hitherto, ye blaspheme and cry out, "Where is the God of judgment?" Were he such as he is…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Ye have wearied the Lord with your words - o“By your blasphemous words, full of unbelief and mistrust, you have in a manner wearied God. He speaks of God, after the manner of men, as a man afflicted by the ills of others. Whence also the Lord says in Isaiah Isaiah 1:14, “I am weary to bear them,” and Isaiah 43:24, “thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins; thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities.” In like way the Apostle says Ephesians 4:30. With the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-17Verses 10-17 Corrupt practices are the fruit of corrupt principles; and he who is false to his God, will not be true to his fellow mortals. In contempt of the marriage covenant, which God instituted, the Jews put away the wives they had of their own nation, probably to make room for strange wives. They made their lives bitter to them; yet, in the sight of others, they pretend to be tender of them. Consider she is thy wife; thy own; the nearest relation…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17Malachi's fourth message addresses the difference between God's justice and human justice (Malachi 2:17). This section sounds like a courtroom charge against Judah. It presents God’s formal accusation. Malachi condemns religious behavior that follows rules but lacks sincere devotion (see Malachi 3:14). This kind of worship goes against God’s justice. The prophet calls the people to honesty and to real concern for others in their community.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. wearied ... Lord--(Is 43:24). This verse forms the transition to Mal 3:1, &c. The Jewish skeptics of that day said virtually, God delighteth in evil-doers (inferring this from the prosperity of the surrounding heathen, while they, the Jews, were comparatively not prosperous: forgetting that their attendance to minor and external duties did not make up for their neglect of the weightier duties of the law; for example, the duty they owed their wives…Read the comment
Topics related to Malachi 2:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Malachi 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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