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,

whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
    and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(AA)
They practice deceit,(AB)
    thieves break into houses,(AC)
    bandits rob in the streets;(AD)
but they do not realize
    that I remember(AE) all their evil deeds.(AF)
Their sins engulf them;(AG)
    they are always before me.

“They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.(AH)
They are all adulterers,(AI)
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,(AJ)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.(AK)
Their hearts are like an oven;(AL)
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(AM)
    and none of them calls(AN) on me.

“Ephraim mixes(AO) with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
Foreigners sap his strength,(AP)
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(AQ)
    but despite all this
he does not return(AR) to the Lord his God
    or search(AS) for him.

11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(AT)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(AU)
    now turning to Assyria.(AV)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(AW) over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
13 Woe(AX) to them,
    because they have strayed(AY) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me(AZ) falsely.(BA)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(BB)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[c] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,(BC)
    but they turn away from me.(BD)
15 I trained(BE) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil(BF) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(BG)
    they are like a faulty bow.(BH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent(BI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(BJ)
    in the land of Egypt.(BK)

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
  3. Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together

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: in 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 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.

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

But they like men 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 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.

When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.

And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.

They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.

They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this.

11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.

15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.

16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.