Hosea 6:4 (LSB)

Passage

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your lovingkindness is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.

Nearby Context

Hosea 6:2 He will make us alive after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.

Hosea 6:3 So let us know, let us pursue to know Yahweh. His going forth is established as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the late rain watering the earth.”

Hosea 6:4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your lovingkindness is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.

Hosea 6:5 Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have killed them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.

Hosea 6:6 For I delight in lovingkindness rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "So let us know let us pursue..." into verse 5's "Therefore I have hewn them in pieces...", so "shall" and "ephraim" 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 "ephraim" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.