Hosea 6:4 (DBY)

Passage

What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do unto thee, Judah? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away.

Nearby Context

Hosea 6:2 After two days will he revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before his face;

Hosea 6:3 and we shall know, we shall follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is assured as the morning dawn; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain which watereth the earth.

Hosea 6:4 What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do unto thee, Judah? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away.

Hosea 6:5 Therefore have I hewed [them] by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and my judgment goeth forth as the light.

Hosea 6:6 For I delight in loving-kindness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "thee", "ephraim", "judah", "goodness", and "morning". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "thee", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "and we shall know we shall follow..." into verse 5's "Therefore have I hewed them by the...", so "shall" and "thee" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "thee" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.