Hosea 6–7

A Call to Repentance

6Come, let us return to the Lord. ^r

For He has torn us, ^s

and He will heal us; ^t

He has wounded us,

and He will bind up our wounds. ^u

²He will revive us after two days, ^v

and on the third day He will raise us up

so we can live in His presence. ^w

³Let us strive to know the Lord. ^x

His appearance is as sure as the dawn. ^y

He will come to us like the rain, ^z

like the spring showers that water the land.

The Lord’s First Lament

⁴What am I going to do with you, Ephraim? ^a

What am I going to do with you, Judah?

Your loyalty is like the morning mist ^b

and like the early dew that vanishes.

⁵This is why I have used the prophets

to cut them down; ^cd

I have killed them with the words of My mouth.

My judgment strikes like lightning. ^e

⁶For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice,

the knowledge of God ^frather than burnt offerings. ^g

⁷But they, like Adam, ^hhave violated the covenant; ⁱ

there they have betrayed Me. ^j

⁸Gilead is a city of evildoers, ^k

tracked with bloody footprints. ^l

⁹Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone, ^m

a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem. ⁿ

They commit atrocities. ^o

¹⁰I have seen something horrible ^pin the house of Israel:

Ephraim’s promiscuity is there; ^qIsrael is defiled.

¹¹A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah. ^r

When I ^sreturn My people from captivity, ^t

7¹when I heal Israel, ^u

the sins of Ephraim ^vand the crimes of Samaria ^w

will be exposed.

For they practice fraud; ^x

a thief breaks in;

a raiding party pillages outside. ^y

²But they never consider that I remember all their evil. ^z

Now their sins are all around them; ^a

they are right in front of My face.

Israel’s Corruption

³They please the king with their evil, ^b

the princes with their lies. ^c

⁴All of them commit adultery; ^d

they are like an oven heated by a baker

who stops stirring the fire

from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

⁵On the day of our king,

the princes are sick with the heat of wine ^e—

there is a conspiracy with traitors. ^f

⁶For they—their hearts like an oven—

draw him into their oven.

Their anger smolders all night;

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

⁷All of them are as hot as an oven, ^g

and they consume their rulers. ^h

All their kings fall;

not one of them calls on Me. ⁱ

⁸Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations.

Ephraim is unturned bread baked on a griddle.

⁹Foreigners consume his strength, ^j

but he does not notice. ^k

Even his hair is streaked with gray,

but he does not notice.

¹⁰Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, ^lm

yet they do not return to Yahweh their God, ⁿ

and for all this, they do not seek Him.

¹¹So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove; ^o

they call to Egypt, ^pand they go to Assyria. ^q

¹²As they are going, I will spread My net over them; ^r

I will bring them down like birds of the sky.

I will discipline them in accordance

with the news that reaches ^stheir assembly.

The Lord’s Second Lament

¹³Woe to them, ^tfor they fled from Me; ^u

destruction to them, for they rebelled against Me!

Though I want to redeem them, ^v

they speak lies against Me.

¹⁴They do not cry to Me from their hearts;

rather, they wail on their beds.

They slash themselves ^wxfor grain and new wine; ^y

they turn away from Me.

¹⁵I trained and strengthened their arms, ^z

but they plot evil against Me. ^a

¹⁶They turn, but not to what is above; ^b

they are like a faulty bow. ^c

Their leaders will fall by the sword

because of the cursing of their tongue. ^d

They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt. ^e