| New International Version | New Living Translation |
| 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. | 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. |
| 2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. | 2In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. |
| 3Let 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." | 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.” |
| 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. | 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 cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth-- then my judgments go forth like the sun. | 5I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces— to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light. |
| 6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. | 6I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. |
| 7As at Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there. | 7But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust. |
| 8Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood. | 8“Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood. |
| 9As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes. | 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 horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled. | 10Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel: My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods! |
| 11"Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed. "Whenever I would 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. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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