1Come, 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.
2After two days He will revive us;
on the third day He will raise us up,that we may live in His presence.
3So 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.
4What 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.
5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of My mouth,and My judgments go forth like lightning.
6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of Godrather than burnt offerings.
7But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant;
there they were unfaithful to Me.
8Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with footprints of blood.
9Like raiders who lie in ambush,
so does a band of priests;they murder on the way to Shechem;
surely they have committed atrocities.
10In the house of Israel
I have seen a horrible thing:Ephraim practices prostitution there,
and Israel is defiled.
11Also for you, O Judah,
a harvest is appointed,when I restore
My people from captivity.
— Hosea 6