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Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
Hosea 6:1 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.
  • BSB Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
  • NKJV Come,and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
  • NASB “Come, let’s return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
  • NLT “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The people call one another to return to the LORD, confident that the God who wounded them will also heal and restore.

Overview

These verses voice a summons to repentance, recognizing that the same God who tore them in judgment will bind up their wounds. While some read this as sincere and others as a shallow, presumptuous confidence (given God's rebuke in v.4), the theology is sound: the LORD heals those who return to Him. The hope of healing through the One who struck looks ahead to Christ, by whose wounds we are healed.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Job 5:18For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
  • Deut 32:39See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
  • 1 Sam 2:6The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
  • Lam 3:40–41Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
  • Hos 14:4I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
  • Isa 55:7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
  • Job 34:29When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:
  • Isa 2:3And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
  • Jer 30:17For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
  • Hos 14:1O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
  • Hos 13:7–9Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
  • Lam 3:32–33But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
  • Jer 50:4In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
  • Isa 30:26Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
  • Jer 3:22Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
  • Hos 5:12–15Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
  • Ps 30:7LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
  • Jer 33:5They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
  • Jer 30:12For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.
  • Isa 30:22Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
  • Zeph 2:1Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 6:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.

How Hosea 6:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.