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Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.

After two days will He revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

“O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

Therefore have I hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

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

But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against Me.

Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.

And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder on the way by consent; for they commit lewdness.

10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel; there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

11 Also, O Judah, he hath set a harvest for thee, when I returned My people from captivity.

Israel Unrepentant

“Come, let us return(A) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces(B)
    but he will heal us;(C)
he has injured us
    but he will bind up our wounds.(D)
After two days he will revive us;(E)
    on the third day(F) he will restore(G) us,
    that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the Lord;
    let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
    he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,(H)
    like the spring rains that water the earth.(I)

“What can I do with you, Ephraim?(J)
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.(K)
Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth(L)
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.[a](M)
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(N)
    and acknowledgment(O) of God rather than burnt offerings.(P)
As at Adam,[b] they have broken the covenant;(Q)
    they were unfaithful(R) to me there.
Gilead is a city of evildoers,(S)
    stained with footprints of blood.
As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,(T)
    so do bands of priests;
they murder(U) on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.(V)
10 I have seen a horrible(W) thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.(X)

11 “Also for you, Judah,
    a harvest(Y) is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes(Z) of my people,

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
  2. Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings