| 1 Come, let us return to Yahweh. He has rent us and he wil heal us; he has struck us and he will bind upour wounds; | 1 "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up. |
| 2 after two days he wil revive us, on the third day he wil raise us up and we shal live in his presence. | 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 strive to know Yahweh; that he will come is as certain as the dawn. He wil come tous like a shower, like the rain of springtime to the earth. | 3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." |
| 4 What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? For your love is like morningmist, like the dew that quickly disappears. | 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 early away. |
| 5 This is why I have hacked them to pieces by means of the prophets, why I have kil ed them with wordsfrom my mouth, why my sentence wil blaze forth like the dawn- | 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. |
| 6 for faithful love is what pleases me, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not burnt offerings. | 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings. |
| 7 But they have broken the covenant at Adam, there they have betrayed me. | 7 But at Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. |
| 8 Gilead is a city of evil-doers, ful of bloody footprints. | 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. |
| 9 Like so many robbers in ambush, a gang of priests commits murder on the road to Shechem- whatinfamous behaviour! | 9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests are banded together; they murder on the way to Shechem, yea, they commit villainy. |
| 10 At Bethel I have seen a horrible thing; there Ephraim plays the whore, Israel is befouled. | 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's harlotry is there, Israel is defiled. |
| 11 For you too, Judah, a harvest is in store, when I restore my people's fortunes. | 11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. |