6:1 “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.
6:2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
6:3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
6:4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.
6:5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth - then my judgments go forth like the sun.* / *The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
6:7 As at Adam,* they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there. / *Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
6:8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood.
6:9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes.
6:10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled.
6:11 “Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed. “Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,