Hosea 6:1-3

A Call to Repentance

1 Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn [us], and He will heal us; He has wounded [us], and He will bind up our wounds.

2 He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up so we can live in His presence.^[a]

3 Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.

Hosea 6:1-3 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]. Dt 32:39