Malachi Comforts a Weeping Wife on the Temple Steps

Prompt

Malachi 2: "And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out... the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously." On the stone steps of the temple court, a faithful middle-aged Judean wife, her head veiled, kneels weeping with her hands on the altar steps, large and central, while in the background her husband walks away arm in arm with a younger woman in foreign jewellery; the prophet Malachi, wearing a simple wrapped head cloth and a dull olive wool mantle, kneels beside the weeping wife with compassion, looking after the departing husband with stern sorrow. Soft, bright late-afternoon golden light, pale limestone. The men wear wrapped turbans or head-cloths over their hair. Style: a blend of photo-realism and cinema, like a still from a big-budget film. Bright, rich, saturated, luminous colour, clear daylight or glowing golden light even in dramatic scenes, never murky or muddy, crisp detail, real human faces full of emotion, shallow depth of field, subtle film grain. Simple, uncluttered composition: ONE clear scene from this chapter, with the chapter's main character or characters large, close and central in the upper and middle frame, and a simple background. No montage, no collage, no inset vignettes, no crowd of small figures competing for attention. Historically accurate ancient Near Eastern clothing, architecture and landscape. Keep the bottom quarter of the frame simple and uncluttered (ground, water or sky) so a large chapter number can be set over it. Absolutely no text, no letters, no words, no numbers, no logos, no watermark, no border, no frame.