Chapter 6
1 “Come, let us return to the Lord,(A)
For it is he who has torn, but he will heal us;
he has struck down, but he will bind our wounds.
2 He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,(B)
to live in his presence.
3 Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord;
as certain as the dawn is his coming.
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth.”(C)
4 What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your loyalty is like morning mist,
like the dew that disappears early.
5 For this reason I struck them down through the prophets,
I killed them by the words of my mouth;(D)
my judgment shines forth like the light.
6 For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.(E)
Further Crimes of Israel
7 But they, at Adam, violated the covenant;
there they betrayed me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
9 Like brigands lying in wait
is the band of priests.
They murder on the road to Shechem,
indeed they commit a monstrous crime.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing:
there is found Ephraim’s prostitution,
Israel is defiled.
11 For you also, Judah,
a harvest has been appointed!
Footnotes
- 6:2
- 6:5
- 6:7
- 6:8
- 6:9
- 6:11
Cross references
- 6:1 : Lam 3:40.
- 6:2 : Lk 24:7, 46; 1 Cor 15:4.
- 6:3 : Dt 11:14; Ps 72:6.
- 6:5 : Is 11:4; 49:2; Jer 5:14; Hb 4:12–13.
- 6:6 : 1 Sm 15:22; Am 5:22–24; Mi 6:6–8; Eccl 4:17; Mt 9:13; 12:7.
