| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. | 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 raise us up, That we may live in His sight. | 2In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. |
| 3Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to 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“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away. | 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 have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth. | 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 and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. | 6I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. |
| 7“But like men they transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me. | 7But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust. |
| 8Gilead is a city of evildoers And defiled with blood. | 8“Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood. |
| 9As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, So the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they commit lewdness. | 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 the house of Israel: There is the harlotry of Ephraim; Israel is defiled. | 10Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel: My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods! |
| 11Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, When I return the captives 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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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