3 Let 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.
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.
5 Therefore 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.
6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 “But like men they transgressed the covenant;There they dealt treacherously with Me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoersAnd defiled with blood.
9 As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man,So the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem;Surely they commit lewdness.