Hosea 6
1“Come! Let’s return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds. 2After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him. 3Let’s acknowledge Yahweh. Let’s press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters 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. 5Therefore 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. 6For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. 7But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me there. 8Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood. 9As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder on the path toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes. 10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled. 11“Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of my people.
Introduction
Hosea 6
The closing words of the foregoing chapter gave us some hopes that God and his Israel, notwithstanding their sins and his wrath, might yet be happily brought together again, that they would seek him and he would be found of them; now this chapter carries that matter further, and some join the beginning of this chapter with the end of that, "They will seek me early," saying, "Come and let us return." But God doth again complain of the wickedness of this people; for, though some did repent and reform, the greater part continued obstinate. Observe, I. Their resolution to return to God, and the comforts wherewith they encourage themselves in their return (Hos 6:1-3). II. The instability of many of them in their professions and promises of repentance, and the severe course which God therefore took with them (Hos 6:4, Hos 6:5). III. The covenant God made with them, and his expectations from them (Hos 6:6); their violation of that covenant and frustrating those expectations (Hos 6:7-11).
Cross-references: Hos 6:1 · Hos 6:4 · Hos 6:5 · Hos 6:6 · Hos 6:7