לְכוּ וְנָשׁוּבָה אֶל־ה' כִּי הוּא טָרָף וְיִרְפָּאֵנוּ יַךְ וְיַחְבְּשֵׁנוּ

Then they will say: Let us go and return to the Lord, as He mauled us and He will also heal us. It is He who struck us, and yet He Himself will bandage us. Since He is the source of all power, both destructive and constructive, we must return to Him.

יְחַיֵּנוּ מִיֹּמָיִם בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי יְקִמֵנוּ וְנִחְיֶה לְפָנָיו

He will revive us after two days of harsh afflictions; on the third day He will raise us, and we will live before Him.

וְנֵדְעָה נִרְדְּפָה לָדַעַת אֶת־ה' כְּשַׁחַר נָכוֹן מֹצָאוֹ וְיָבוֹא כַגֶּשֶׁם לָנוּ כְּמַלְקוֹשׁ יוֹרֶה אָרֶץ

We will know God, endeavor to know the Lord. Like dawn, the place of His emergence is certain, clear. We will have definite knowledge of God, just as one can know for certain the light and direction of the emerging dawn. In response, He will come to us like the rain, with kindness and blessing, like the late rain that refreshes the earth.

מָה אֶעֱשֶׂה־לְּךָ אֶפְרַיִם! מָה אֶעֱשֶׂה־לְּךָ יְהוּדָה! וְחַסְדְּכֶם כַּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר וְכַטַּל מַשְׁכִּים הֹלֵךְ

What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah? What can be done on your behalf? For your kindness, your positive deeds and your awakening to return to Me, is unstable like a morning cloud, which dissipates when the sun comes out; it is like the dew that departs early and evaporates in the morning hours.

עַל־כֵּן חָצַבְתִּי בנְּבִיאִים הֲרַגְתִּים בְּאִמְרֵי־פִי ומִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ אוֹר יֵצֵא!

Therefore, due to Israel’s corrupt and fickle lifestyle, I hewed them, afflicted them, with the prophets, and when they failed to listen to the prophets, I even killed them with the statements of My mouth. Consequently, can your judgment, Israel, come to light, that you will be acquitted?

כִּי חֶסֶד חָפַצְתִּי וְלֹא־זָבַח וְדַעַת אֱלֹהִים מֵעֹלוֹת

For it is kindness I desire, and not offerings, and the knowledge of God is what is important, more than burnt offerings. Judah and Israel were convinced that if they would only bring enough offerings, they would receive atonement for all their sins, and all their flaws would be wholly remedied.

וְהֵמָּה כְּאָדָם עָבְרוּ בְרִית שָׁם בָּגְדוּ בִי

But they, like with a person, have violated the covenant. They acted as though their covenant had been enacted with men rather than with God, and in the place where they were supposed to remain faithful to Me, there they betrayed Me.

גִּלְעָד קִרְיַת פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן עֲקֻבָּה מִדָּם

Gilad, a large and important city in the Kingdom of Israel, is nothing but a city of evildoers, criminals, as it is tracked with blood, surrounded with the blood that has been shed there.

וּכְחַכֵּי אִישׁ גְּדוּדִים חֶבֶר כֹּהֲנִים דֶּרֶךְ יְרַצְּחוּ שֶׁכְמָה כִּי זִמָּה עָשׂוּ

Like troops of robbers waylay a man, so a company of priests murders its way to Shekhem, for they have formulated a plot to commit malicious deeds.

בְּבֵית יִשְׂרָאֵל רָאִיתִי שַׁעֲרוּרִיָּה שָׁם זְנוּת לְאֶפְרַיִם נִטְמָא יִשְׂרָאֵל

In the entire house of Israel I have seen corruption and abomination. There is the licentiousness of Ephraim; Israel has been defiled.

גַּם־יְהוּדָה שָׁת קָצִיר לָךְ בְּשׁוּבִי שְׁבוּת עַמִּי

Not only Israel, but Judah too has placed a harvest of affliction for you; it will reap the evil that it has sown. Because of their sins, at the time when I had thought to return the captivity of My people, I will afflict them instead.