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Hosea 6:6

“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

Hosea 6:6, King James Version (KJV)

“For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

World English Bible (WEB)

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Hosea 6 (KJV)

  1. 1Come, 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.
  2. 2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
  3. 3Then 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.
  4. 4O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
  5. 5Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
  6. 6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
  7. 7But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
  8. 8Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.
  9. 9And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.
  10. 10I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
  11. 11Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.

Related verses

Passages that readers often connect with Hosea 6:6, in the King James Version.

  • Matthew 9:13

    But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

  • Matthew 12:7

    But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

  • Proverbs 21:3

    To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

  • 1 Samuel 15:22

    And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

  • Amos 5:21

    I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

  • Isaiah 1:11

    To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

More verses about mercy

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1769 standardized text (eBible.org eng-kjv). Public domain outside the United Kingdom. Text courtesy of the Crosswire Bible Society and eBible.org. World English Bible Protestant Edition (eBible engwebp, 2026-09-15 snapshot). Public domain. World English Bible is a trademark of eBible.org. Text unmodified; footnotes and formatting omitted. Related verses: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0), from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.