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.
10. In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled.
11. For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed,when I restore the fortunes of my people.