Hosea 6

1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.

'Come, and we turn back unto Jehovah, For He hath torn, and He doth heal us, He doth smite, and He bindeth us up.

2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

He doth revive us after two days, In the third day He doth raise us up, And we live before Him.

3 So let us know— let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.

And we know — we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain — sprinkling earth.'

4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.

What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness [is] as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early — going.

5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and My judgments go forth like lightning.

Therefore I have hewed by prophets, I have slain them by sayings of My mouth, And My judgments to the light goeth forth.

6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

For kindness I desired, and not sacrifice, And a knowledge of God above burnt-offerings.

7 But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.

And they, as Adam, transgressed a covenant, There they dealt treacherously against me.

8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with footprints of blood.

Gilead [is] a city of workers of iniquity, Slippery from blood.

9 Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities.

And as bands do wait for a man, A company of priests do murder — the way to Shechem, For wickedness they have done.

10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.

In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, There [is] the whoredom of Ephraim — defiled is Israel.

11 Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore My people from captivity.

Also, O Judah, appointed is a harvest to thee, In My turning back [to] the captivity of My people!