Chapter 6

The Unrepentance of Israel and Judah

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^a?

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,^b

and the knowledge of God

rather than burnt offerings.

⁷But they, like Adam, have transgressed^c 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.^d