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HOSEA • CHAPTER 6
Hosea 6
Marriage imagery, covenant betrayal, judgment, divine love, political instability, repentance, and restoration.
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Hosea 6
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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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.
for he has torn us to pieces,
and he will heal us;
he has injured us,
and he will bind up our wounds.
2
After two days he will revive us.
On the third day he will raise us up,
and we will live before him.
On the third day he will raise us up,
and we will live before him.
3
Let’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.”
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.
Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your love is like a morning cloud,
and like the dew that disappears early.
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.
I killed them with the words of my mouth.
Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.
6
For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice;
and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7
But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant.
They were unfaithful to me, there.
They were unfaithful to me, there.
8
Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity;
it is stained with blood.
it is stained with 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.
so the company of priests murder on the path toward Shechem,
committing shameful crimes.
10
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing.
There is prostitution in Ephraim.
Israel is defiled.
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.
when I restore the fortunes of my people.
PROPHETIC
Where this chapter fits
Hosea uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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