1勸人民誠心歸向 神“來吧！讓我們回轉歸向耶和華；因為，他雖然撕裂了我們，但必定醫治我們；他雖然擊傷了我們，卻必替我們裹傷。
1“Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.
2兩天以後，他要使我們復原；第三天，他使我們起來，我們就可以活在他的面前。
2After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.
3讓我們認識，竭力追求認識耶和華。他必定出現，像晨光一樣，他必臨到我們，如雨水一般，又像滋潤大地的春雨。
3Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”
4指摘人民虛偽的行為“以法蓮啊！我要怎樣待你呢？猶大啊，我要怎樣待你呢？你們的愛心像早晨的雲霧；又像瞬即消逝的朝露。
4“Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.
5因此，我藉眾先知砍碎他們，用我口中的話殺戮他們；我的審判必如光一般發出。
5Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.
6我喜愛憐恤，不喜愛祭祀；我喜愛人認識 神的知識，勝過人獻的燔祭。
6For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7可是他們卻在亞當城背約，在那裡向我行詭詐。
7But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.
8基列是作孽之人的城，他們的腳蹤染滿了血漬。
8Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood.
9在往示劍的路上，祭司結黨殺害人，就像埋伏路旁的強盜；他們行了邪惡的事。
9As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes.
10在以色列家！我看見了可怕的事；那裡有以法蓮的淫行，以色列被玷污了。
10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.
11猶大啊！我使我的子民歸回的時候，必有為你定下的一個收割時期。”
11“Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of my people.