Hosea 6
Evangelical Heritage Version
Israel’s Need to Return to the Lord
6 Come, let us return to the Lord.
For he has torn us to pieces,
but he will heal us.
He has struck us,
but he will bandage our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us.
On the third day he will raise us up,
so that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord.
Let us pursue knowledge of the Lord.
As surely as the sun rises,
the Lord will appear.
He will come to us like a heavy rain,
like the spring rain that waters the earth.
God’s Grief Over Israel’s Impenitence
4 What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?
What am I going to do with you, Judah?
For your faithfulness[a] is like a morning mist,
like early dew that disappears.
5 That is why I cut them to pieces by means of the prophets.
I killed them with the words of my mouth.
The judgments against you go forth like the light.
6 For I desire mercy,[b] and not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.
7 Like Adam,[c] they have broken the covenant.
They acted treacherously against me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
stained with bloody footprints.
9 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man,
so do bands of priests.
They commit murder on the road to Shechem.
They have committed shameful crimes.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing.
Ephraim practices sexual immorality there.
Israel defiles itself.
11 Judah, also for you, a harvest has been appointed,
when I restore the fortunes of my people.[d]
Footnotes
- Hosea 6:4 Or mercy
- Hosea 6:6 Or faithfulness
- Hosea 6:7 Or at Adam. We are aware of no act of covenant breaking at the city of Adam.
- Hosea 6:11 Or though I would rather restore my people from captivity. Some translations join this line with verse 7:1.
Hosea 6
King James Version
6 Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.
9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.
10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.