3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn;he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?What shall I do with you, O Judah?Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;I have slain them by the words of my mouth,and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for a man,so the priests band together;they murder on the way to Shechem;they commit villainy.