A Call to Repentance

¹“Come, let us return to the Lord .

He has torn us to pieces;

now he will heal us.

He has injured us;

now he will bandage our wounds.

²In just a short time he will restore us,

so that we may live in his presence.

³Oh, that we might know the Lord !

Let us press on to know him.

He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn

or the coming of rains in early spring.”

⁴“O Israel and Judah,[#6:4 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.]

what should I do with you?” asks the Lord .

“For your love vanishes like the morning mist

and disappears like dew in the sunlight.

⁵I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—

to slaughter you with my words,

with judgments as inescapable as light.

⁶I want you to show love,[#6:6a Greek version translates this Hebrew term as to show mercy. Compare Matt 9:13; 12:7.]

not offer sacrifices.

I want you to know me

more than I want burnt offerings.

⁷But like Adam, you broke my covenant[#6:7 Or But at Adam.]

and betrayed my trust.

⁸“Gilead is a city of sinners,

tracked with footprints of blood.

⁹Priests form bands of robbers,

waiting in ambush for their victims.

They murder travelers along the road to Shechem

and practice every kind of sin.

¹⁰Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel:

My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!

¹¹“O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you,

though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.