Hosea 6:3-11

3 Let us acknowledge the LORD. Let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, The LORD will appear. He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain that waters the eretz."

4 "Efrayim, what shall I do to you? Yehudah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, And like the dew that disappears early.

5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.

6 For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

7 But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.

8 Gil`ad is a city of those who work iniquity; It is stained with blood.

9 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, So the company of Kohanim murder in the way toward Shekhem, Committing shameful crimes.

10 In the house of Yisra'el I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Efrayim. Yisra'el is defiled.

11 "Also, Yehudah, there is a harvest appointed for you, When I restore the fortunes of my people.

Hosea 6:3-11 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.