19. Then I thought, ‘How I would set you among the children, and I would give you a land of desire, an inheritance of the glory of the hosts of nations.’ And I thought, ‘You would call me, “My father,” and you would not turn back from behind me.’
20. However, as a wife departs treacherously from her lover, so you have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.
21. “A voice is heard on the barren heights, the weeping of the pleas for mercy of the children of Israel, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God.
22. Return, O apostate children, I will heal your backsliding. ‘Look, we come to you, for you are Yahweh our God.
23. Surely, an illusion comes from the hills, the turmoil on the mountains. Surely, in Yahweh our God is the salvation of Israel.
24. But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our ancestors from our youth, their flocks, and their cattle, their sons and their daughters.
25. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. For against Yahweh our God we have sinned, we and our ancestors, from our youth and until this day. and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.’