Add parallel Print Page Options

“‘Come, let us return to the Lord; it is he who has torn us—he will heal us. He has wounded—he will bind us up. In just a couple of days,[a] or three at the most, he will set us on our feet again to live in his kindness! Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him, and he will respond to us as surely as the coming of dawn or the rain of early spring.’”

“O Ephraim and Judah, what shall I do with you? For your love vanishes like morning clouds, and disappears like dew. I sent my prophets to warn you of your doom; I have slain you with the words of my mouth, threatening you with death. Suddenly, without warning, my judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night.

“I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.

“But like Adam, you broke my covenant; you refused my love. Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood. Her citizens are gangs of robbers, lying in ambush for their victims; packs of priests murder along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin. 10 Yes, I have seen a horrible thing in Israel—Ephraim chasing other gods, Israel utterly defiled.

11 “O Judah, for you also there is a plentiful harvest of punishment waiting—and I wanted so much to bless you!

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:2 In just a couple of days, literally, “In two days.”

Israel Unrepentant

“Come, let us return(A) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces(B)
    but he will heal us;(C)
he has injured us
    but he will bind up our wounds.(D)
After two days he will revive us;(E)
    on the third day(F) he will restore(G) us,
    that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the Lord;
    let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
    he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,(H)
    like the spring rains that water the earth.(I)

“What can I do with you, Ephraim?(J)
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.(K)
Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth(L)
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.[a](M)
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(N)
    and acknowledgment(O) of God rather than burnt offerings.(P)
As at Adam,[b] they have broken the covenant;(Q)
    they were unfaithful(R) to me there.
Gilead is a city of evildoers,(S)
    stained with footprints of blood.
As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,(T)
    so do bands of priests;
they murder(U) on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.(V)
10 I have seen a horrible(W) thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.(X)

11 “Also for you, Judah,
    a harvest(Y) is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes(Z) of my people,

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
  2. Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings

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.

After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

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.

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.

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.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.

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.