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.