| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1"Come on! Let's return to the LORD! He himself has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us! He has injured us, but he will bandage our wounds! | 1“Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. |
| 2He will restore us in a very short time; he will heal us in a little while, so that we may live in his presence. | 2In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. |
| 3So let us acknowledge him! Let us seek to acknowledge the LORD! He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn, as certainly as the winter rain comes, as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land." | 3Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” |
| 4What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, O Judah? For your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; it disappears as quickly as dawn's dew! | 4“O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the LORD. “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight. |
| 5Therefore, I will certainly cut you into pieces at the hands of the prophets; I will certainly kill you in fulfillment of my oracles of judgment; for my judgment will come forth like the light of the dawn. | 5I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces— to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light. |
| 6For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice; I delight in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings. | 6I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. |
| 7At Adam they broke the covenant; Oh how they were unfaithful to me! | 7But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust. |
| 8Gilead is a city full of evildoers; its streets are stained with bloody footprints! | 8“Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood. |
| 9The company of priests is like a gang of robbers, lying in ambush to pounce on a victim. They commit murder on the road to Shechem; they have done heinous crimes! | 9Priests form bands of robbers, waiting in ambush for their victims. They murder travelers along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin. |
| 10I have seen a disgusting thing in the temple of Israel: there Ephraim practices temple prostitution and Judah defiles itself. | 10Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel: My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods! |
| 11I have appointed a time to reap judgment for you also, O Judah! If Israel Would Repent of Sin, God Would Relent of Judgment Whenever I want to restore the fortunes of my people, | 11“O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you, though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people. |
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