Hosea 6
1 [The Israeli people say, ] “Come, let’s return to Yahweh! He has caused [us] to be injured, but he will heal us. He has caused [us] to be wounded, but [it is as though] he will put bandages on our wounds [MET].
'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 a very short time he will revive us; in less than three days he will restore us in order 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 We must try to know Yahweh; [if we do that, ] he will come [and help] us, as surely as the sun rises [every morning], as surely as rain falls every winter/cold season, and as surely as the rain falls again (in the springtime/at the end of the cold season).”
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 [But Yahweh knows they are insincere; ] [so he says to them, ] “You [people of] Israel, and you [people of] Judah, [I do not know] [RHQ] what I should do to you. Your being faithful [to me will disappear as quickly] as [SIM] the morning mist [disappears], like [SIM] the dew [on the ground] that disappears quickly [when the sun shines].
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 I warned [HYP] you by [the messages that I gave to] the prophets, [but you did not pay attention to my messages]. Therefore I will completely destroy you; the punishment that I give you will strike you 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 I want [my people] to faithfully love [me] more than [I want them to offer] sacrifices [to me]; [I want them] to know me more than [I want them to] completely burn sacrifices [on the altar].
For kindness I desired, and not sacrifice, And a knowledge of God above burnt-offerings.
7 But they have refused to obey my agreement, [just] like Adam did; they have not been faithful to me.
And they, as Adam, transgressed a covenant, There they dealt treacherously against me.
8 Gilead is a city [full] of people who do wicked things; [in the streets] are the bloody footprints [of those who have murdered others].
Gilead [is] a city of workers of iniquity, Slippery from blood.
9 The priests are like [SIM] bandits who wait (in ambushes/along the road) to attack people; they murder [people who are walking] on the road to Shechem, and they commit other disgraceful crimes.
And as bands do wait for a man, A company of priests do murder — the way to Shechem, For wickedness they have done.
10 I have seen horrible things [being done] in Israel [MTY]. The people have abandoned me [like prostitutes who have abandoned their husbands] [MET]; [so the people of] Israel have become unacceptable to me.
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, There [is] the whoredom of Ephraim — defiled is Israel.
11 And you [people of] Judah, I have appointed a time when I will punish [MET] you, too. Whenever I wanted to enable my people to prosper again,”
Also, O Judah, appointed is a harvest to thee, In My turning back [to] the captivity of My people!
