Hosea 6:4-Hosea 7:2 - The Lord's First Lament

⁴ "What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your love is like a morning rain cloud it passes away like the morning dew. ⁵ Therefore I cut them to pieces by the prophets, killing them by the words from my mouth. The verdict against you shines like a beacon. ⁶ For it is love that I seek, and not sacrifice; knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁷ "But like Adam, they broke the covenant; in this they have acted deceitfully against me. ⁸ Gilead is a lawless town; it is polluted by bloodshed. ⁹ Like a gang of thieves that stalk a man, priests commit murder along the road to Shechem, committing shameful crimes. ¹⁰ I have seen a horrible evil in the house of Israel Ephraim's promiscuity. Israel is defiled. ¹¹ "So, Judah, a harvest has been appointed for you when I restore my people from captivity."

¹ "When I was healing Israel, Ephraim's sin was uncovered, along with Samaria's wickedness. While they craft lying schemes, the thief invades, and the gang of thieves plunders outside. ² It never occurs to them that I remember all their sin. Now their actions have caught up with them, and they have my attention.