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.

2 After two days he will revive us;

he will raise us up on the third day,

and we will live before him.

3 Let 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.”

4 Ephraim, 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.

5 So 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.

6 For I desire faithfulness and not sacrifice,

and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

7 Like Adam they have broken the covenant;

they were unfaithful to me.

8 Gilead is a city of evildoers

with footprints of blood.

9 As gangs of robbers wait for someone,

so the priests band together to commit murder on the way to Shechem;

they have committed shameful crimes.

10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;

Ephraim's prostitution is there, and Israel has become unclean.

11 For you also, Judah, a harvest has been appointed,

when I will restore the fortunes of my people.