New English Translation
Hosea 6:4
4What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, O Judah? For your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew!
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 restore us in a very short time; he will heal us in a little while, so that we may live in his presence. 3So let us acknowledge him! Let us seek to acknowledge the Lord! He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn, as certainly as the winter rain comes, as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.” What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, O Judah? For your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew! 5Therefore, I will certainly cut you into pieces at the hands of the prophets; I will certainly kill you in fulfillment of my oracles of judgment; for my judgment will come forth like the light of the dawn. 6For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice; I delight in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings.
Read all of Hosea 6Hosea 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 surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart! All my tender compassions are aroused!
- Isaiah 5:3So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard!
- Jeremiah 3:19“I thought to myself, ‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! What a joy it would be for me to give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ and would never cease being loyal to me.
- Jeremiah 5:7The Lord asked, “How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? Your people have rejected me and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife to me. They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes.
- Jeremiah 9:7Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, “I will now purify them in the fires of affliction and test them. The wickedness of my dear people has left me no choice. What else can I do?
- Luke 13:7So he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For three years now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue to deplete the soil?’
- Luke 19:41Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it,
- Judges 2:18When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them.
- Psalms 78:34When he struck them down, they sought his favor; they turned back and longed for God.
- Psalms 106:12They believed his promises; they sang praises to him.
- Jeremiah 3:10In spite of all this, Israel’s sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,” says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 34:15Recently, however, you yourselves showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own.
- Matthew 13:21But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.
- 2 Peter 2:20For if after they have escaped the filthy things of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again get entangled in them and succumb to them, their last state has become worse for them than their first.
- Hosea 13:3Therefore they will disappear like the morning mist, like early morning dew that evaporates, like chaff that is blown away from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open 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
In the dictionaries
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
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