1
"Come, let us return to the
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
2
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3
Let us know, let us press on to know the
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
4
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
5
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my 1 judgment goes forth as the light.
6
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7
But at 2 Adam they transgressed the covenant;
there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8
Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
9
As robbers lie in wait 3 for someone,
so the priests are banded together; 4
they murder on the road to Shechem,
they commit a monstrous crime.
10
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim's whoredom is there, Israel is defiled.
11
For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.
When I would restore the fortunes of my people,
1
when I would heal Israel,
the corruption of Ephraim is revealed,
and the wicked deeds of Samaria;
for they deal falsely,
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.
2
But they do not consider
that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds surround them,
they are before my face.
3
By their wickedness they make the king glad,
and the officials by their treachery.
4
They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven,
whose baker does not need to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5
On the day of our king the officials
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6
For they are kindled 5 like an oven, their heart burns within them;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7
All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
none of them calls upon me.
8
Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9
Foreigners devour his strength,
but he does not know it;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
but he does not know it.
10
Israel's pride testifies against 6 him;
yet they do not return to the
or seek him, for all this.
11
Ephraim has become like a dove,
silly and without sense;
they call upon Egypt, they go to Assyria.
12
As they go, I will cast my net over them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will discipline them according to the report made to their assembly. 7
13
Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
14
They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
they gash themselves for grain and wine;
they rebel against me.
15
It was I who trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they plot evil against me.
16
They turn to that which does not profit; 8
they have become like a defective bow;
their officials shall fall by the sword
because of the rage of their tongue.
So much for their babbling in the land of Egypt.