New King James Version
Hosea 12:6
6So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually.
Hosea 12:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
- New International Version (NIV)But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God."
- New Living Translation (NLT)So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him.
Context of Hosea 12:6
4Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, And there He spoke to us— 5That is, the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is His memorable name. So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually. 7“A cunning Canaanite! Deceitful scales are in his hand; He loves to oppress. 8And Ephraim said, ‘Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself; In all my labors They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’
Read all of Hosea 12Hosea 12:6 word by word
וְאַתָּ֖ה בֵּאלֹהֶ֣יךָ תָשׁ֑וּב חֶ֤סֶד וּמִשְׁפָּט֙ שְׁמֹ֔ר וְקַוֵּ֥ה אֶל־אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ תָּמִֽיד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hosea 12:6
- Hosea 14:1O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
- Proverbs 1:23Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
- Isaiah 31:6Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
- Jeremiah 3:14“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
- Lamentations 3:39Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?
- Joel 2:13So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
- Zechariah 1:3Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.
- Acts 2:38Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 26:20but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
- Hosea 4:1Hear the word of the Lord, You children of Israel, For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.
- Proverbs 21:3To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
- Isaiah 1:16“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,
- Isaiah 58:6“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?
- Jeremiah 22:15“Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
- Amos 5:24But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
Commentaries on Hosea 12:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Therefore turn thou to thy God - Because he is the same, and cannot change. Seek him as faithfully and as fervently as Jacob did, and you will find him the same merciful and compassionate Being.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Therefore turn thou to thy God - (Literally, “And thou, thou shalt turn” so as to lean “on thy God.”) “And thou” unlike, he would say, as thou art to thy great forefather, now at least, “turn to thy God;” hope in Him, as Jacob hoped; and thou too shalt be accepted. God was the Same. They then had only to turn to Him in truth, and they too would find Him, such as Jacob their father had found Him, and then “trust in him continually. mercy and judgment”…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6The Lord urged Israel to stop living like Jacob. Instead, they should return to God and act with love and justice.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. thou--who dost wish to be a true descendant of Jacob. to THY God--who is therefore bound by covenant to hear thy prayers. keep mercy and judgment--(Mi 6:8). These two include the second-table commandments, duty towards one's neighbor, the most visible test of the sincerity on one's repentance. wait on thy God--alone, not on thy idols. Including all the duties of the first table (Psa 37:3, 5, 7; 40:1).Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 12:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Hosea 12
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries