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

⁴ What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. ⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces by my prophets. I have killed you with the words of my mouth. My judgments flashed like lightning upon you. ⁶ I desire loving-kindness (mercy), not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷ Like Adam, they have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me there. ⁸ Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with blood. ⁹ As marauders lie in ambush for a man, so do bands of priests. They murder on the road to Shechem, committing shameful crimes. ¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There Ephraim is given to prostitution and Israel is defiled. ¹¹ Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.

¹ When I want to heal my people Israel and make them prosperous again, all I can see is their wickedness and the evil deeds of Samaria. They cheat one another. They break into houses and steal. They actually rob people in the streets. ² It never enters their hearts that I will remember all this evil. But their sins surround them, and I cannot avoid seeing them.