6
1 Let us go, and return to the Lord our God; for he has torn, and will heal us; he will smite, and bind us up. 2 After two days he will heal us: in the third day we shall arise, and live before him, and shall know him: 3 let us follow on to know the Lord: we shall find him ready as the morning, and he will come to us as the early and latter rain to the earth.
4 What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do to thee, Judah? whereas your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that goes away. 5 Therefore have I mown down your prophets; I have slain them with the word of my mouth: and my judgment shall go forth as the light.
6 For I will have mercy rather than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than whole burnt offerings. 7 But they are as a man transgressing a covenant: 8 there the city Gilead despised me, working vanity, troubling water. 9 And thy strength is that of a robber: the priests have hidden the way, they have murdered the people of Shechem; for they have wrought iniquity in the house of Israel. 10 I have seen horrible things there, even the fornication of Ephraim: Israel and Judah are defiled; 11 begin to gather grapes for thyself, when I turn the captivity of my people.