⁴⁰ Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
^4 (A)Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil ^(B)in Your sight—
^(C)That You may be found just ^[a]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.

^5 (D)Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.

⁴ “In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,
“The children of Israel shall come,
^(A)They and the children of Judah together;
^(B)With continual weeping they shall come,
^(C)And seek the Lord their God.
⁵ They shall ask the way to Zion,
With their faces toward it, saying,
‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord
In ^(D)a perpetual covenant
That will not be forgotten.’

⁶ “Therefore, behold,
^(A)I will hedge up your way with thorns,
And ^[a]wall her in,
So that she cannot find her paths.
⁷ She will ^[b]chase her lovers,
But not overtake them;
Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.
Then she will say,
^(B)‘I will go and return to my ^(C)first husband,
For then it was better for me than now.’