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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)“O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the Lord. “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.

Context of Hosea 6:4

2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." 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. 5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6For I desire steadfast 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, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.
• Isaiah 5:3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
• Jeremiah 3:19"'I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.
• Jeremiah 5:7"How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores.
• Jeremiah 9:7Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?
• Luke 13:7And he said to the vinedresser, 'Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?'
• Luke 19:41And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
• Judges 2:18Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them.
• Psalms 78:34When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.
• Psalms 106:12Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.
• Jeremiah 3:10Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord."
• Jeremiah 34:15You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name,
• Matthew 13:21yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
• 2 Peter 2:20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
• Hosea 13:3Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the 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