Hosea 6:1-9

The Response to God's Rebuke

1 "¹Come, let us return to the LORD. For ²He has torn us, but ³He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will ⁴bandage us.

2 "He will ⁵revive us after two days; He will ⁶raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.

3 "So let us ⁷know, let us press on to know the LORD. His ⁸going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the ⁹rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth."

4 What shall I do with you, O ¹⁰Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a ¹¹morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.

5 Therefore * I have ¹²hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the ¹³words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.

6 For ¹⁴I delight in loyalty ¹⁵rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 But ¹⁶like Adam they have ¹⁷transgressed the covenant; There they have ¹⁸dealt treacherously against Me.

8 ¹⁹Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with ²⁰bloody footprints.

9 And as ²¹raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests ²²murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed ²³crime.

Hosea 6:1-9 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. Jeremiah 50:4, 5
• 2. Deuteronomy 32:39; Hosea 5:14
• 3. Jeremiah 30:17; Hosea 14:4
• 4. Isaiah 30:26
• 5. Psalms 30:5
• 6. 1 Corinthians 15:4
• 7. Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2
• 8. Psalms 19:6; Micah 5:2
• 9. Job 29:23; Psalms 72:6; Joel 2:23
• 10. Hosea 7:1; Hosea 11:8
• 11. Psalms 78:34-37; Hosea 13:3
• 12. 1 Samuel 15:32, 33; Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 5:14
• 13. Jeremiah 23:29
• 14. Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:7
• 15. Isaiah 1:11
• 16. Job 31:33
• 17. Hosea 8:1
• 18. Hosea 5:7
• 19. Hosea 12:11
• 20. Hosea 4:2
• 21. Hosea 7:1
• 22. Jeremiah 7:9, 10; Hosea 4:2
• 23. Ezekiel 22:9; Ezekiel 23:27; Hosea 2:10

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "struck"
• [b] Or "lovingkindness"
• [c] Or "men"
• [d] Or "lewdness"