Hosea 6:4-11

4 “O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the LORD . “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.

5 I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces— to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light.

6 I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

7 But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust.

8 “Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood.

9 Priests form bands of robbers, waiting in ambush for their victims. They murder travelers along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin.

10 Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel: My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!

11 “O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you, though I wanted to 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
• [b]. Greek version translates this Hebrew term as to show mercy. Compare Matt 9:13 ; 12:7 .
• [c]. Hebrew to know God.
• [d]. Or But at Adam.