Limitless Word
So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.
Hosea 6:3 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”
  • KJV Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
  • NKJV Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
  • NASB “So let’s learn, let’s press on to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, As the spring rain waters the earth.”
  • NLT Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”

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 resolve to press on to know the LORD, trusting He will come to them as certainly as the dawn and refreshing rain.

Overview

Knowing God is presented not as a single act but as a pursuit to be pressed into, with confidence that He will surely appear and refresh His people like life-giving rain. The certainty of the sunrise illustrates the faithfulness of God to those who seek Him. This longing to know the LORD is answered fully in Christ, in whom eternal life is to know the only true God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 32

  • Jer 24:7I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.
  • Hos 14:5I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
  • Ps 72:6May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
  • Prov 2:1–5My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
  • Phil 3:13–15Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
  • Matt 13:11He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
  • Rev 22:16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
  • Zech 10:1Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.
  • 2 Pet 1:19We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
  • Mal 4:2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
  • Luke 1:78because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
  • Mic 4:2And many nations will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
  • John 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
  • Isa 44:3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
  • Heb 3:14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.
  • Isa 54:13Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity.
  • Joel 2:23–24Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
  • Isa 32:15until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
  • Hos 2:20And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”
  • Ps 65:9You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.
  • Acts 17:11Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
  • Hos 10:12Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
  • Deut 32:2Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.
  • Prov 4:18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
  • Ezek 36:25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
  • Mic 5:2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
  • Job 29:23They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
  • Isa 5:6I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
  • Mic 5:7Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind.
  • Ps 19:4their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
  • 2 Sam 23:4is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’
  • John 7:17If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 6:3YouTube · 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 6:3 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.