A Call to Repentance
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord,
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.(A)
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”(B)
Impenitence of Israel and Judah
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.(C)
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.(D)
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.(E)
7 But at Adam they transgressed the covenant;
there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for someone,
so the priests are banded together;
they murder on the road to Shechem;
they commit a monstrous crime.(F)
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim’s prostitution is there; Israel is defiled.(G)
11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.
When I would restore the fortunes of my people,(H)
Footnotes
- 6.5
- 6.7
- 6.9
- 6.9
Cross references
- 6.1 : Isa 30.26; Jer 50.4, 5; Hos 5.14; 14.4
- 6.3 : Ps 19.6; Isa 2.3; Joel 2.23; Mic 4.2; 5.2
- 6.4 : Hos 7.1; 11.8; 13.3
- 6.5 : v 3; Jer 1.10, 18; Heb 4.12
- 6.6 : Ps 50.8, 9; Hos 2.20; Mt 9.13
- 6.9 : Jer 7.9, 10; Ezek 22.9; 23.27; Hos 7.1
- 6.10 : Jer 5.30, 31; Hos 5.3
- 6.11 : Joel 3.13; Zeph 2.7
