You are cursed with a curse: This rendering is so close to the form of the Hebrew that it makes unnatural English. The repetition is expressed more smoothly in New American Bible “You are indeed accursed.” The Hebrew actually has “the curse” (so Jerusalem Bible) rather than a curse. This suggests that the original readers knew what curse was being referred to, in all likelihood that in Deut 28.15-24. In that passage the penalties for disobedience are stated to include poor crops, small families, small flocks, illness, and drought. The effect of the curse is not stated here, but in the light of verses 10-11 it may safely be assumed to include drought and insect pests, with the consequent poor harvests. See also the comments on 2.2. In some languages it will be necessary to express a subject, and if so, translators may say “You are under a curse” (New International Version, New Living Translation) or “A curse lies on you” (New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Another possible model is “Terrible things will happen to you,” though if possible, translators should use a word for curse that has a religious sense.

For you are robbing me: The Hebrew word order is different from that in the similar clause in verse 8. Again both you and me are expressed by pronouns rather than verbal affixes, but this time the main emphasis falls on me. Strangely, although this is correctly represented in the Septuagint and Vulgate, the only modern versions that seem to have captured it are Knox and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible renders “it is me that you have deceived.” For robbing see the comments on verse 8.

The whole nation of you: The punctuation of Revised Standard Version is odd, as this phrase is tacked on to the end of the sentence following a semicolon (;). New Revised Standard Version has altered the semicolon to a dash (–), which makes it clearer that the phrase is connected to you in the previous clause. The word translated nation is the Hebrew word goy, a term that is usually used for gentile nations. When used of Israel, it can have the effect of a rebuke, and this may well be the case here (compare Isa 1.4; Hag 2.14). The mocking tone could be expressed in English with a word like “lot,” “crowd,” or even, as Knox expresses it, “brood” (compare Matt 3.7 and parallels).

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• You are indeed under the curse, because it is me that you are robbing, the whole lot of you!

• Truly the curse is upon you, because the one you are robbing, the whole gang of you, is me!

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Malachi. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .