Hosea 6:1-8

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

1 "Come, let us ¹return to the LORD; for ²he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and ³he will bind us up.

2 After two days ⁴he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.

3 ⁵Let us know; ⁶let us press on to know the LORD; ⁷his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us ⁸as the showers, ⁹as the spring rains that water the earth."

4 What shall I do with you, ¹⁰O ¹¹Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O ¹²Judah? Your love is ¹³like a morning cloud, ¹⁴like the dew that goes early away.

5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them ¹⁵by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.

6 For ¹⁶I desire steadfast love^[a] and not sacrifice, ¹⁷the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 But ¹⁸like Adam they ¹⁹transgressed the covenant; ²⁰there they dealt faithlessly with me.

8 ²¹Gilead is a city of evildoers, ²²tracked with blood.

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Hosea 6:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 6

This chapter gives an account of some who were truly penitent, and stirred up one another to return to the Lord, encouraged by his power, grace, and goodness, Ho 6:1-3; and of others, who had only a form of religion, were very unstable in it; regarded more the ceremonial law, and the external sacrifices of it, than the moral law; either that part of it which respects the love of the neighbour, or that which concerns the knowledge of God; and dealt treacherously with the Lord, transgressing the covenant, Ho 6:4-7; particularly the city of Gilead is represented as full of the workers of iniquity, and is charged with bloodshed, Ho 6:8; yea, even the priests were guilty of murder and lewdness, Ho 6:9; and Israel, or the ten tribes in general, are accused of whoredom, both corporeal and spiritual, with which they were defiled, Ho 6:10; nor was Judah clear of these crimes, and therefore a reckoning day is set for them, Ho 6:11.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 22

1. Hosea 14:1; [Hosea 3:5]
2. Hosea 5:14; [Hosea 13:7, 8]
3. [Isaiah 30:26]
4. Psalms 71:20; [Luke 24:27, 44; John 2:22; John 20:9; 1 Corinthians 15:4]
5. [Hosea 4:6]
6. [Hosea 4:6]
7. Micah 5:2
8. [Hosea 14:5]
9. Joel 2:23
10. [Hosea 11:8]
11. ver. 10, 11; Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:5; Hosea 8:14; Hosea 10:11; Hosea 11:12; Hosea 12:1, 2; See Hosea 5:9-14
12. ver. 10, 11; Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:5; Hosea 8:14; Hosea 10:11; Hosea 11:12; Hosea 12:1, 2; See Hosea 5:9-14
13. Hosea 13:3
14. Hosea 13:3
15. Jeremiah 23:29; [Hebrews 4:12]
16. Cited Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:7; [1 Samuel 15:22]
17. [Hosea 2:20]
18. [Genesis 3:11; Job 31:33; Romans 5:14]
19. Hosea 8:1; Deuteronomy 17:2
20. Hosea 5:7
21. [Hosea 12:11]
22. See Hosea 4:2

Footnotes 1

[a]. Septuagint mercy

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.