Hosea 6:1-10

A Call to Yahweh

1 Come, let us return to Yahweh; because [it is] he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck us down and will bind us up.

2 He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in his presence.

3 Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising [is] sure like [the] dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like [the] spring rain that waters [the] earth.

4 What will I do with you, [O] Ephraim? What will I do with you, [O] Judah? Your love [is] like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early in the morning.

5 Therefore, I have hewn [them] by [the] prophets; I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth like the light.

6 Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 But like Adam, they transgressed [the] covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.

8 Gilead [is] a city of evil, a cunning [city] because of blood.

9 Like bandits lying in wait, [so is] a band of priests; they murder [on the] road to Shechem; indeed, they commit a monstrous crime.

10 In the house of Israel I have seen something horrible; Ephraim's unfaithfulness [is] there. Israel is defiled.

Hosea 6:1-10 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "before his face"
• [b]. Hebrew "your judgments"
• [c]. The Hebrew is difficult; NRSV translates "tracked with blood"