The Unrepentance of Israel and Judah

¹ Come, let us return to the LORD.

For He has torn us to pieces,

but He will heal us;

He has wounded us,

but He will bind up our wounds.

² After two days He will revive us;

on the third day He will raise us up,^*

that we may live in His presence.

³ So let us know —

let us press on to know the LORD.

As surely as the sun rises,

He will appear;

He will come to us like the rain,

like the spring showers that water the earth.

⁴ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

For your loyalty is like a morning mist,

like the early^* dew that vanishes.

⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

I have slain them by the words^* of My mouth,

and My judgments go forth like lightning.

⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,^*

and the knowledge of God

rather than burnt offerings.

⁷ But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant;^*

there they were unfaithful to Me.

⁸ Gilead is a city of evildoers,

tracked with footprints of blood.

⁹ Like raiders who lie in ambush^*,

so does a band of priests;

they murder on the way to Shechem;

surely they have committed atrocities.^*

¹⁰ In the house of Israel

I have seen a horrible thing:

Ephraim practices prostitution there,

and Israel is defiled.

¹¹ Also for you, O Judah,

a harvest^* is appointed,

when I restore

My people from captivity.^*