Read the Bible

¹ Let's return to the Lord.
    He has torn us to shreds,
but he will bandage our wounds
    and make us well.
² In two or three days
    he will heal us
and restore our strength
    that we may live with him.
³ Let's do our best
    to know the Lord.
His coming is as certain
    as the morning sun;
he will refresh us like rain
renewing the earth
    in the springtime.

⁴ People of Israel and Judah,
    what can I do with you?
Your love for me disappears
more quickly
than mist
    or dew at sunrise.
⁵ That's why I slaughtered you
with the words
    of my prophets.
That's why my judgments blazed
    like the dawning sun.^[a]
6 I'd rather for you to be faithful
and to know me
    than to offer sacrifices.

⁷ At a place named Adam,
you^[b] betrayed me
    by breaking our agreement.
⁸ Everyone in Gilead is evil;
your hands are stained
    with the blood of victims.^[c]
9 You priests are like a gang
    of robbers in ambush.^[d]
On the road to Shechem^[e]
you murder
and commit
    other horrible crimes.
¹⁰ I have seen a terrible thing
    in Israel—
you are unfaithful
    and unfit to worship me.
¹¹ People of Judah,
    your time is coming too.

I, the Lord, would like to make
my nation prosper again