A Call to Repentance

Come, let us return to the Lord.(A)
For He has torn us,(B)
and He will heal us;(C)
He has wounded us,
and He will bind up our wounds.(D)
He will revive us after two days,(E)
and on the third day He will raise us up
so we can live in His presence.(F)
Let us strive to know the Lord.(G)
His appearance is as sure as the dawn.(H)
He will come to us like the rain,(I)
like the spring showers that water the land.

The Lord’s First Lament

What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?(J)
What am I going to do with you, Judah?
Your loyalty is like the morning mist(K)
and like the early dew that vanishes.
This is why I have used the prophets
to cut them down;[a](L)
I have killed them with the words of My mouth.
My judgment strikes like lightning.[b]
For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God(M) rather than burnt offerings.(N)

But they, like Adam,[c] have violated the covenant;(O)
there they have betrayed Me.(P)
Gilead is a city of evildoers,(Q)
tracked with bloody footprints.(R)
Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone,(S)
a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem.(T)
They commit atrocities.(U)
10 I have seen something horrible(V) in the house of Israel:
Ephraim’s promiscuity is there;(W) Israel is defiled.
11 A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah.(X)

When I[d] return My people from captivity,(Y)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:5 Or have cut down the prophets
  2. Hosea 6:5 LXX, Syr, Tg; MT reads Your judgments go out as light
  3. Hosea 6:7 Or they, as at Adam, or they, like men,
  4. Hosea 6:11 Or you. Judah, when I

A Call to Repentance

“Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
    now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
    now he will bandage our wounds.
In just a short time he will restore us,
    so that we may live in his presence.
Oh, that we might know the Lord!
    Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
    or the coming of rains in early spring.”

“O Israel[a] and Judah,
    what should I do with you?” asks the Lord.
“For your love vanishes like the morning mist
    and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
    to slaughter you with my words,
    with judgments as inescapable as light.
I want you to show love,[b]
    not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me[c]
    more than I want burnt offerings.
But like Adam,[d] you broke my covenant
    and betrayed my trust.

“Gilead is a city of sinners,
    tracked with footprints of blood.
Priests form bands of robbers,
    waiting in ambush for their victims.
They murder travelers along the road to Shechem
    and practice every kind of sin.
10 Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel:
    My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!

11 “O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you,
    though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.

Footnotes

  1. 6:4 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
  2. 6:6a Greek version translates this Hebrew term as to show mercy. Compare Matt 9:13; 12:7.
  3. 6:6b Hebrew to know God.
  4. 6:7 Or But at Adam.