¹ Come and let us return unto Jehovah: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

² After two days will he revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before his face;

³ and we shall know, -- we shall follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is assured as the morning dawn; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain which watereth the earth.

⁴ What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do unto thee, Judah? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away.

⁵ Therefore have I hewed [them] by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and my judgment goeth forth as the light.

⁶ For I delight in loving-kindness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.

⁷ But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

⁸ Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity; it is tracked with blood.

⁹ And as troops of robbers lie in wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way of Shechem; yea, they commit lewdness.

¹⁰ In the house of Israel have I seen a horrible thing: the whoredom of Ephraim is there; Israel is defiled.

¹¹ Also, for thee, Judah, is a harvest appointed, when I shall turn again the captivity of my people.

¹ Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills Hear thy voice.

² Hear, ye mountains, Jehovah's controversy, and ye, unchanging foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

³ O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.

⁴ For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

⁵ My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of Jehovah.

⁶ Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old?

⁷ Will Jehovah take pleasure in thousands of rams, in ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸ He hath shewn thee, O man, what is good: and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with thy God?

⁹ Jehovah's voice crieth unto the city, and wisdom looketh on thy name. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

¹⁰ Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure [which is] abominable?

¹¹ Shall I be pure with the unjust balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?

¹² For her rich men are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³ Therefore also will I make [thee] sick in smiting thee; I will make [thee] desolate because of thy sins.

¹⁴ Thou shalt eat, and not be satisfied, and thine emptiness [shall remain] in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take away, and not save; and what thou savest will I give up to the sword.

¹⁵ Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and new wine, but shalt not drink wine.

¹⁶ For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and ye walk in their counsels: that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing; and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.