< Hosea 6 >
1 “Come! Let’s return to the LORD; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.
“Come, and we turn back to YHWH, For He has torn, and He heals us, He strikes, and He binds us up.
2 After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.
He revives us after two days, In the third day He raises us up, And we live before Him.
3 Let’s acknowledge the LORD. Let’s press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, the LORD will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”
And we know—we pursue to know YHWH, His going forth is prepared as the dawn, And He comes in as a shower to us, As spring rain [and] autumn rain to the earth.”
4 “Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.
“What do I do to you, O Ephraim? What do I do to you, O Judah? Your goodness [is] as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early—going.
5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.
Therefore I have hewed by prophets, I have slain them by sayings of My mouth, And My judgments go forth to the light.
6 For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
For kindness I desired, and not sacrifice, And a knowledge of God above burnt-offerings.
7 But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me there.
And they, as Adam, transgressed a covenant, There they dealt treacherously against Me.
8 Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood.
Gilead [is] a city of workers of iniquity, Slippery from blood.
9 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder on the path toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes.
And as bands wait for a man, A company of priests murder—the way to Shechem, For they have done wickedness.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, There [is] the whoredom of Ephraim—Israel is defiled.
11 “Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of my people.
Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed to you, In My turning back [to] the captivity of My people!”