Hosea 6

New Catholic Bible

^1 [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.
² After two days he will revive us;
    on the third day^[b] he will raise us up
    to live in his presence.
³ 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.”
⁴ 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.
⁵ 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.
⁶ For steadfast love rather than sacrifice is what pleases me,
    and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷ But in their land^[c] they broke the covenant;
    it was there that they were unfaithful to me.
⁸ Gilead^[d] is a city of evildoers,
    stained with bloody footprints.
⁹ 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]