First reading
Hear the word of the Lord, O people. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me.
“Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift an infant to the cheek. I bent down to them and fed them.
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.
“I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no human being, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.”