Hos 6 | LEB | STEP | Come, let us return to Yahweh; because it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck us down and will bind us up.

Hosea 6

A Call to Yahweh

1 Come, let us return to Yahweh;
because it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck us down and will bind us up.
2 He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live in his presence. ^{▼▼Or “before his face”}
3 Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh;
his rising is sure like the dawn.
He will come like the showers to us,
like the spring rain that waters the earth.
4 What will I do with you, O Ephraim?
What will I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early in the morning.
5 Therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment ^{▼▼Hebrew “your judgments”} goes forth like the light.
6 Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant;
there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evil,
a cunning city because of blood. ^{▼▼The Hebrew is difficult; NRSV translates “tracked with blood”}
9 Like bandits lying in wait,
so is a band of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem;
indeed, they commit a monstrous crime.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen something horrible;
Ephraim’s unfaithfulness is there.
Israel is defiled.

Ephraim’s Guilt

11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed,
when I restore the fortunes of my people,