Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

¹“Come, let us return to the Lord ;[#14:1; 3:5]

for he has torn us, that he may heal us;

he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

²After two days he will revive us;[#Ps. 71:20; Luke 24:27, 44; John 2:22; 20:9; 1 Cor. 15:4]

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

³Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord ;[#4:6; #4:6]

his going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

as the spring rains that water the earth.”

⁴What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?[#11:8; #10, 11; 4:15; 5:5; 8:14; 10:11; 11:12; 12:1, 2; 5:9-14]

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

like the dew that goes early away.

⁵Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

I have slain them by the words of my mouth,

and my judgment goes forth as the light.

⁶For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,[#Matt. 9:13; 12:7; 1 Sam. 15:22; #6:6 Septuagint]

the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;[#Gen. 3:11; Job 31:33; Rom. 5:14; #8:1; Deut. 17:2]

there they dealt faithlessly with me.

⁸Gilead is a city of evildoers,[#12:11]

tracked with blood.

⁹As robbers lie in wait for a man,[#5:1; 7:6]

so the priests band together;

they murder on the way to Shechem;

they commit villainy.

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

Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled.

¹¹For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.[#10; #Joel 3:13]

When I restore the fortunes of my people,