1 »Come, and let us return to Jehovah. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us. He has wounded us but he will bandage us.
2 »He will revive us after two days. He will raise us up on the third day that we will live before him.
3 »Let us get to know Jehovah! Let us press on run afterfollow to get to know him. As surely as the sun rises he will appear. He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.«
4 »What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.
5 »Therefore I cut you in pieces by my prophets. I have killed you with the words of my mouth. My judgments flashed like lightning upon you.
6 »I desire loving-kindness mercy, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 »Like Adam, they have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me there.
8 »Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with blood.
9 »As marauders lie in ambush for a man, so do bands of priests. They murder on the road to Shechem, committing shameful crimes.
10 »I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There Ephraim is given to prostitution and Israel is defiled.
11 »Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.«