Hosea 6

English Standard Version

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

6 “Come, let us ^(A)return to the Lord;
    for ^(B)he has torn us, that he may heal us;
    he has struck us down, and ^(C)he will bind us up.
²After two days ^(D)he will revive us;
    on the third day he will raise us up,
    that we may live before him.
³^(E)Let us know; ^(F)let us press on to know the Lord;
    ^(G)his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us ^(H)as the showers,
    ^(I)as the spring rains that water the earth.”

⁴What shall I do with you, ^(J)O ^(K)Ephraim?
    What shall I do with you, O ^(L)Judah?
Your love is ^(M)like a morning cloud,
    ^(N)like the dew that goes early away.
⁵Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
    I have slain them ^(O)by the words of my mouth,
    and my judgment goes forth as the light.
⁶For ^(P)I desire steadfast love^[a] and not sacrifice,
    ^(Q)the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷But ^(R)like Adam they ^(S)transgressed the covenant;
    ^(T)there they dealt faithlessly with me.
⁸^(U)Gilead is a city of evildoers,
    ^(V)tracked with blood.
⁹As robbers ^(W)lie in wait for a man,
    so the priests band together;
they murder on the way to ^(X)Shechem;
    they commit villainy.
¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
    ^(Y)Ephraim's whoredom is there; ^(Z)Israel is defiled.