Hosea 6:4 (YLT)

Passage

What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness <FI>is<Fi> as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early--going.

Nearby Context

Hosea 6:2 He doth revive us after two days, In the third day He doth raise us up, And we live before Him.

Hosea 6:3 And we know--we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain--sprinkling earth.'

Hosea 6:4 What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness <FI>is<Fi> as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early--going.

Hosea 6:5 Therefore I have hewed by prophets, I have slain them by sayings of My mouth, And My judgments to the light goeth forth.

Hosea 6:6 For kindness I desired, and not sacrifice, And a knowledge of God above burnt-offerings.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And we know--we pursue to know Jehovah..." into verse 5's "Therefore I have hewed by prophets I...", so "thee" 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 "thee" and "ephraim" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.