1 "Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck, and he will bandage us.
2 He will bring us back to life after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, and we will live in his presence.
3 Let us know him; let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. As certain as the dawn is his coming forth; he will come to us like the rain, like the late rain watering the land."
4 What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your steadfast love is like a morning cloud, like dew that rises early and is gone.
5 That is why I have cut them down by the prophets and killed them by the words of my mouth; and the judgments on you go out like light.
6 For it is steadfast love I want, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant; there they betrayed me.
8 Gilead is a town of those who work iniquity, marked with bloody footprints.
9 Like raiders lying in wait for a man, so is the band of priests; they murder along the road to Shechem; surely they have done a shameful thing.
10 I have seen something horrible in the house of Israel: there Ephraim plays the harlot, and Israel has made itself unclean.
11 You too, Judah, have a harvest set for you, when I restore the fortunes of my people.