Hosea 6:8 (KJV)

Passage

Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.

Nearby Context

Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

Hosea 6:8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.

Hosea 6:9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.

Hosea 6:10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "gilead", "city", "iniquity", "polluted", and "blood". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "gilead" and "city", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "But they like men have transgressed the..." into verse 9's "And as troops of robbers wait for...", so "gilead" and "city" 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 "gilead" and "city" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.