Add parallel Print Page Options

Chapter 6

Steadfast Love Rather than Sacrifice Is What Pleases Me

[a]“Come, let us return to the Lord;
    he has wounded us, but he will heal us;
    he has struck us down, but he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us;
    on the third day[b] he will raise us up
    to live in his presence.
Let us know the Lord;
    let us strive to know him.
His coming is as sure as the dawn;
    he will come to us like a shower,
    like the spring rains that water the earth.”
What can I do with you, Ephraim?
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like a morning mist,
    like the dew that quickly evaporates.
That is the reason why I cut them to pieces
    by means of the prophets.
I have slaughtered them by the word of my mouth,
    and my judgment goes forth like the dawn.
For steadfast love rather than sacrifice is what pleases me,
    and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Their Wicked Deeds Are Constantly before My Eyes

But in their land[c] they broke the covenant;
    it was there that they were unfaithful to me.
Gilead[d] is a city of evildoers,
    stained with bloody footprints.
Like robbers waiting in ambush,
    priests are banded together.
They commit murder on the road to Shechem,
    perpetrating monstrous crimes.
10 I have witnessed a horrible thing
    in the house of Israel.
There Ephraim engages in prostitution
    and Israel is defiled.
11 And for you also, O Judah,
    a harvest of reprisal has been designated.[e]

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:1 The passage refers to some crime greater than others and paints a picture of general wickedness. The heart of Israel is irremediably turned in on itself and can no longer be converted.
  2. Hosea 6:2 Two days . . . third day: that is, soon. God is merciful.
  3. Hosea 6:7 Their land: some think that Adam, a place on the right bank of the Jordan, is meant.
  4. Hosea 6:8 Gilead: across the Jordan.
  5. Hosea 6:11 The verse is outside its proper context.