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A Call for Israel to Repent

“Come, let us return to the Lord;
    even though he has torn us,[a]
        he will heal us.
Even though he has wounded us,
    he will bind our wounds.[b]
After two days, he will restore us to life,
    on the third day he will raise us up,
        and we will live in his presence.
Let us know,
    let us pursue knowledge of the Lord;
        his coming is as certain as the dawn.
He will come to us like the rain,
    like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.

“What am I to do with you, Ephraim?
    What am I to do with you, Judah?
Your love is like a morning rain cloud—
    it passes away like the morning dew.
Therefore I cut them[c] to pieces by the prophets,
    killing them by the words from my mouth.
        The verdict against you shines like a beacon.
For it is love that I seek,
    and not sacrifice;
        knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

“But like Adam,[d] they broke the covenant;
    in this they have acted deceitfully against me.
Gilead is a lawless town;
    it is polluted by bloodshed.
Like a gang of thieves that stalk a man,
    priests commit murder along the road to Shechem,
        committing shameful crimes.
10 I have seen a horrible evil in the house of Israel—
    Ephraim’s promiscuity.
        Israel is defiled.

11 “So, Judah, a harvest has been appointed for you
    when I restore my people from captivity.”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:1 The Heb. lacks us
  2. Hosea 6:1 The Heb. lacks our wounds
  3. Hosea 6:5 The Heb. lacks them
  4. Hosea 6:7 Or men