Hosea 6
New Living Translation
A Call to Repentance
6 “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.
2 In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
3 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.”
4 “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.
5 I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
to slaughter you with my words,
with judgments as inescapable as light.
6 I want you to show love,[b]
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me[c]
more than I want burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam,[d] you broke my covenant
and betrayed my trust.
8 “Gilead is a city of sinners,
tracked with footprints of blood.
9 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.
Hosea 6
International Standard Version
A Call for Israel to Repent
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord;
even though he has torn us,[a]
he will heal us.
Even though he has wounded us,
he will bind our wounds.[b]
2 After two days, he will restore us to life,
on the third day he will raise us up,
and we will live in his presence.
3 Let us know,
let us pursue knowledge of the Lord;
his coming is as certain as the dawn.
He will come to us like the rain,
like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.
4 “What am I to do with you, Ephraim?
What am I to do with you, Judah?
Your love is like a morning rain cloud—
it passes away like the morning dew.
5 Therefore I cut them[c] to pieces by the prophets,
killing them by the words from my mouth.
The verdict against you shines like a beacon.
6 For it is love that I seek,
and not sacrifice;
knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 “But like Adam,[d] they broke the covenant;
in this they have acted deceitfully against me.
8 Gilead is a lawless town;
it is polluted by bloodshed.
9 Like a gang of thieves that stalk a man,
priests commit murder along the road to Shechem,
committing shameful crimes.
10 I have seen a horrible evil in the house of Israel—
Ephraim’s promiscuity.
Israel is defiled.
11 “So, Judah, a harvest has been appointed for you
when I restore my people from captivity.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
