Hosea 6

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

Let's go back to God. Even though He has hurt us, He will also heal us; He has wounded us, but He will also mend us.

After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

In two days, He will breathe life back into us; on the third day, He will lift us up, and we will thrive under His loving gaze.

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

When we truly seek to understand God, we will. His presence is as reliable as the sunrise, and His blessings shower upon us like both the early and late rains that nourish the earth.

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

Ephraim, Judah, how should I handle you? Your virtues, fleeting as morning mist and early dew, vanish too soon.

Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

So I have cut them down through my prophets; I've slain them with the words of my mouth. My judgments on you flash out like the light.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

I yearn for compassion, not rituals; understanding God matters more than any ceremonial gifts.

But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

They, like mere mortals, have broken our sacred agreement: they've betrayed me deeply.

Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.

Gilead is a city filled with wrongdoers, stained by the blood of their actions.

And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.

Just as bands of robbers lie in wait for an unsuspecting victim, so groups of priests band together to murder people on the road. They commit shameful crimes.

I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

I've witnessed a terrible act in Israel's home: Ephraim's betrayal has tainted Israel.

Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.

O Judah, God has prepared a bountiful harvest for you, when He brought back His people from their captivity.