Hosea 6
Good News Translation
The People's Insincere Repentance
6 The people say, “Let's return to the Lord! He has hurt us, but he will be sure to heal us; he has wounded us, but he will bandage our wounds, won't he? 2 In two or three days he will revive us, and we will live in his presence. 3 Let us try to know the Lord. He will come to us as surely as the day dawns, as surely as the spring rains fall upon the earth.”
4 But the Lord says, “Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day. 5 That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear: 6 (A)I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.
7 “But as soon as they entered the land at Adam,[a] they broke the covenant I had made with them. 8 Gilead is a city full of evil people and murderers. 9 The priests are like a gang of robbers who wait in ambush for someone. Even on the road to the holy place at Shechem they commit murder. And they do all this evil deliberately! 10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: my people have defiled themselves by worshiping idols.
11 “And as for you, people of Judah, I have set a time to punish you also for what you are doing.
Footnotes
- Hosea 6:7 Probable text But … at Adam; Hebrew But like Adam.
Hosea 6
New International Version
Israel Unrepentant
6 “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)
2 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.
3 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)”
4 “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)
5 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)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(N)
and acknowledgment(O) of God rather than burnt offerings.(P)
7 As at Adam,[b] they have broken the covenant;(Q)
they were unfaithful(R) to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,(S)
stained with footprints of blood.
9 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,
Hosea 6
King James Version
6 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.
2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3 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.
4 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.
5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.
9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.
10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.
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