1“Come, let us return to Yahweh.
For he has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us;
he has injured us, but he will bandage our wounds.

2After two days he will revive us;
he will raise us up on the third day,
and we will live before him.

3Let us know Yahweh;
let us press on to know Yahweh.
His coming out is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the land.”

4Ephraim, what will I do with you?
Judah, what will I do with you?
Your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.

5So I have cut them to pieces by the prophets,
I have killed them with the words of my mouth.
Your decrees are like the light that shines out.

6For I desire faithfulness and not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

7Like Adam they have broken the covenant;
they were unfaithful to me.

8Gilead is a city of evildoers
with footprints of blood.

9As gangs of robbers wait for someone,
so the priests band together to commit murder on the way to Shechem;
they have committed shameful crimes.

10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim's prostitution is there, and Israel has become unclean.

11For you also, Judah, a harvest has been appointed,
when I will restore the fortunes of my people.