Hosea 6:4-11

4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.

5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth— then my judgments go forth like the sun.^[a]

6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 As at Adam,^[b] they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there.

8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood.

9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes.

10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled.

11 “Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed. “Whenever I would 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. Hosea 11:8
• 2. Hosea 7:1; Hosea 13:3
• 3. Jeremiah 1:9-10; Jeremiah 5:14; Jeremiah 23:29
• 4. Hebrews 4:12
• 5. S 1 Samuel 15:22; S Isaiah 1:11; Matthew 9:13*; Matthew 12:7*; Mark 12:33
• 6. S Jeremiah 4:22; S Hosea 2:20
• 7. S Psalms 40:6; Micah 6:8
• 8. S Genesis 9:11; S Jeremiah 11:10; Hosea 8:1
• 9. S Hosea 5:7
• 10. Hosea 12:11
• 11. Psalms 10:8
• 12. S Hosea 4:2
• 13. Jeremiah 5:30-31; Jeremiah 7:9-10; S Ezekiel 22:9; S Hosea 5:1; Hosea 7:1
• 14. S Jeremiah 5:30
• 15. S Jeremiah 23:14; S Ezekiel 23:7; S Hosea 5:3
• 16. Jeremiah 51:33; Joel 3:13
• 17. S Psalms 126:1; Zephaniah 2:7

Footnotes

• [a] The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
• [b] Or "Like Adam" ; or "Like human beings"