Hosea 6:4

Hosea 6:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)“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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away.

Context of Hosea 6:4

2He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence. 3Let’s strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land. What am I going to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes. 5This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down; I have killed them with the words from my mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning. 6For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:4 word by word

מָ֤ה אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־לְּךָ֙ אֶפְרַ֔יִם מָ֥ה אֶעֱשֶׂה־לְּךָ֖ יְהוּדָ֑ה וְחַסְדְּכֶם֙ כַּֽעֲנַן־בֹּ֔קֶר וְכַטַּ֖ל מַשְׁכִּ֥ים הֹלֵֽךְ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• O Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• what shall I doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• unto thee? O Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
• unto thee? for your goodnessחֶ֫סֶדchêsêd · kindnessH2617
• as a morningבֹּ֫קֶרbôqer · morningH1242
• cloudעָנָן‛ânân · cloudH6051
• and as the earlyשָׁכַםshâkam · to riseH7925
• dewטַלţal · dewH2919
• it goeth awayהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980

Cross-references for Hosea 6:4

• Hosea 11:8How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I surrender you, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart; my compassion is stirred!
• Isaiah 5:3So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.
• Jeremiah 3:19I thought, “How I long to make you my sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations.” I thought, “You will call me ‘My Father’ and never turn away from me.”
• Jeremiah 5:7Why should I forgive you? Your children have abandoned me and sworn by those who are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery; they gashed themselves at the prostitute’s house.
• Jeremiah 9:7Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says: I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of my dear people?
• Luke 13:7He told the vineyard worker, ‘Listen, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil?’
• Luke 19:41As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it,
• Judges 2:18Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them.
• Psalms 78:34When he killed some of them, the rest began to seek him; they repented and searched for God.
• Psalms 106:12Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
• Jeremiah 3:10Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with all her heart — only in pretense.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
• Jeremiah 34:15Today you repented and did what pleased me, each of you proclaiming freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before me at the house that bears my name.
• Matthew 13:21But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.
• 2 Peter 2:20For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.
• Hosea 13:3Therefore, they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, or like smoke from a window.

Commentaries on Hosea 6:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? - This is the answer of the Lord to the above pious resolutions; sincere while they lasted, but frequently forgotten, because the people were fickle. Their goodness (for goodness it was while it endured) was like the morning cloud that fadeth away before the rising sun, or like the early dew which is speedily evaporated by heat. Ephraim and Judah had too much goodness in them to admit of their total rejection, and too…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? - It is common with the prophets, first to set forth the fullness of the riches of God‘s mercies in Christ, and then to turn to their own generation, and upbraid them for the sins which withheld the mercies of God from “them,” and were hurrying them to their destruction. In like way Isaiah, Romans 13:10, Romans 13:8. And, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-11Verses 4-11 Sometimes Israel and Judah seemed disposed to repent under their sufferings, but their goodness vanished like the empty morning cloud, and the early dew, and they were as vile as ever. Therefore the Lord sent awful messages by the prophets. The word of God will be the death either of the sin or of the sinner. God desired mercy rather than sacrifice, and that knowledge of him which produces holy fear and love. This exposes the folly of those…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Israel's response was not enough. God lamented that their love vanished like morning mist and dew.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. what shall I do unto thee--to bring thee back to piety. What more could be done that I have not done, both in mercies and chastenings (Is 5:4)? At this verse a new discourse begins, resuming the threats (Ho 5:14). See opening remarks on this chapter. goodness--godliness. morning cloud--soon dispersed by the sun (Ho 13:3). There is a tacit contrast here to the promise of God's grace to Israel hereafter, in Ho 6:3. His going forth is "as the morning,"…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 6:4

• Backsliders
• Character
• Cloud
• Dew
• Ephraim
• Hypocrisy
• Instability
• Lukewarmness
• Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena

In the dictionaries

• Ephraim
• Judah
• Ephraim, Ephraimite
• Judah, kingdom of Judah
• Judea, Judah
• Cloud
• Consent
• Follow
• Calf, Golden
• Dew

Commentaries on Hosea 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings