Hosea 6:4-11

4 What shall I do with you, ¹O ²Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O ³Judah? Your love is ⁴like a morning cloud, ⁵like the dew that goes early away.

5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them ⁶by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.

6 For ⁷I desire steadfast love^[a] and not sacrifice, ⁸the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 But ⁹like Adam they ¹⁰transgressed the covenant; ¹¹there they dealt faithlessly with me.

8 ¹²Gilead is a city of evildoers, ¹³tracked with blood.

9 As robbers ¹⁴lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to ¹⁵Shechem; they commit villainy.

10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; ¹⁶Ephraim’s whoredom is there; ¹⁷Israel is defiled.

11 For you also, O ¹⁸Judah, ¹⁹a harvest is appointed, when ²⁰I restore the fortunes of my people.

Hosea 6:4-11 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.

Cross References

• 1. 6:4 [ch. 11:8]
• 2. 6:4 ver. 10, 11; ch. 4:15; 5:5; 8:14; 10:11; 11:12; 12:1, 2; See ch. 5:9-14
• 3. 6:4 ver. 10, 11; ch. 4:15; 5:5; 8:14; 10:11; 11:12; 12:1, 2; See ch. 5:9-14
• 4. 6:4 ch. 13:3
• 5. 6:4 ch. 13:3
• 6. 6:5 Jer. 23:29; [Heb. 4:12]
• 7. 6:6 Cited Matt. 9:13; 12:7; [1 Sam. 15:22]
• 8. 6:6 [ch. 2:20]
• 9. 6:7 [Gen. 3:11; Job 31:33; Rom. 5:14]
• 10. 6:7 ch. 8:1; Deut. 17:2
• 11. 6:7 ch. 5:7
• 12. 6:8 [ch. 12:11]
• 13. 6:8 See ch. 4:2
• 14. 6:9 [ch. 5:1; 7:6]
• 15. 6:9 Josh. 24:1
• 16. 6:10 ch. 5:3; 7:4; [ch. 4:2, 12, 14; 9:10]
• 17. 6:10 See ver. 4
• 18. 6:11 [See ver. 10 above]
• 19. 6:11 See Joel 3:13
• 20. 6:11 Ps. 126:1; [Job 42:10]

Footnotes

• [a] 6:6 Septuagint 'mercy'