1 Let us go, and return to the Lord our God; for he has torn, and will heal us; he will strike, and bind us up. 2 After two days he will heal us: in the third day we shall arise, and live before him,⁠a 3 and we shall know him; 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 to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah? whereas your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that goes away. 5 Therefore I have mown down your prophets; I have killed 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,⁠b and the knowledge of God rather than whole burnt offerings. 7 But they are as a man transgressing a covenant: there he despised me. 8 Gilead is a city working vanity, troubling water. 9 And your strength is that of a robber: the priests have hid the way of the Lord, they have murdered the people of Shechem; for they have done iniquity. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen horrible things, even the fornication of Ephraim there: Israel and Judah are defiled; 11 begin to gather grapes for yourself, when I turn the captivity of my people.