[3:19] The Lord says, “Israel, I wanted to accept you as my child and give you a delightful land, the most beautiful land in all the world. I wanted you to call me father and never again turn away from me.
[3:20] But like an unfaithful wife, you have not been faithful to me. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
[3:21] A noise is heard on the hilltops: it is the people of Israel crying and pleading because they have lived sinful lives and have forgotten the Lord their God.
[3:22] Return, all of you who have turned away from the Lord; he will heal you and make you faithful. You say, “Yes, we are coming to the Lord because he is our God.
[3:23] We were not helped at all by our pagan worship on the hilltops. Help for Israel comes only from the Lord our God.
[3:24] But the worship of Baal, the god of shame, has made us lose flocks and herds, sons and daughters—everything that our ancestors have worked for since ancient times.
[3:25] We should lie down in shame and let our disgrace cover us. We and our ancestors have always sinned against the Lord our God; we have never obeyed his commands.”