6 Come, let us return to Yahweh;
because it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck us down and will bind us up.
²     He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
    that we may live in his presence.^[a]
3 Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh;
    his rising is sure like the dawn.
He will come like the showers to us,
    like the spring rain that waters the earth.
⁴ What will I do with you, O Ephraim?
    What will I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
    like the dew that goes away early in the morning.
⁵ Therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets;
    I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
    and my judgment^[b] goes forth like the light.
⁶ Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
⁷ But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant;
    there they dealt faithlessly with me.
⁸ Gilead is a city of evil,
    a cunning city because of blood.^[c]
9 Like bandits lying in wait,
    so is a 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 something horrible;
    Ephraim’s unfaithfulness is there.
        Israel is defiled.

¹¹ For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed,
    when I restore the fortunes of my people,