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.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

¹¹ To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

¹² When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

¹³ Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

¹⁵ And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

¹⁷ Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

¹⁸ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

¹⁹ If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: