King James Version

Hosea 6:4

O 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.

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Hebrew

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מָ֤הmahhowמָהparticle, interrogative — “how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.אֶֽעֱשֶׂהeesehdoעָשָׂהverb, qal, imperfect, 1st person, common, singular — “do”, an unfinished actionH6213to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationaccomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, [idiom] certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, [phrase] displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, f…לְּךָ֙lekhatoלְּךָ֙preposition, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “to”toאֶפְרַ֔יִםefrayimEphraimאֶפְרַיִםnoun, proper name — “Ephraim”H669Ephrajim, a son of Joseph; also the tribe descended from him, and its territoryEphraim, Ephraimites.מָ֥הmahhowמָהparticle, interrogative — “how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.אֶעֱשֶׂהeesehdoעָשָׂהverb, qal, imperfect, 1st person, common, singular — “do”, an unfinished actionH6213to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationaccomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, [idiom] certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, [phrase] displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, f…לְּךָ֖lekhatoלְּךָ֖preposition, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “to”toיְהוּדָ֑הyehudahJudahיְהוּדָהnoun, proper name — “Judah”H3063Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territoryJudah.וְחַסְדְּכֶם֙vechasdekhemand kindnessחֵסֵדconjunction, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, plural — “and kindness”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH2617kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opposition) reproof, or (subject.) beautyfavour, good deed(-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing.כַּֽעֲנַןkaananas cloudעָנָןpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “as cloud”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6051a cloud (as covering the sky), i.e. the nimbus or thunder-cloudcloud(-y).בֹּ֔קֶרboqerdayבֹּקֶרnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “day”, the ordinary formH1242properly, dawn (as the break of day); generally, morning([phrase]) day, early, morning, morrow.וְכַטַּ֖לvekhataland as dewטַלconjunction, preposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “and as dew”, the ordinary formH2919dew (as covering vegetation)dew.מַשְׁכִּ֥יםmashkimup, rise up) earlyשָׁכַםverb, hiphil, participle, absolute — “up, rise up) early”, a verb used as a describing wordH7925literally, to load up (on the back of man or beast), i.e. to start early in the morning(arise, be up, get (oneself) up, rise up) early (betimes), morning.הֹלֵֽךְholekhewalkהָלַךְverb, qal, participle, absolute — “walk”, a verb used as a describing wordH1980to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)(all) along, apace, behave (self), come, (on) continually, be conversant, depart, [phrase] be eased, enter, exercise (self), [phrase] follow, forth, forward, get, go (about, abroad, along, away, forward, on, out, up and down), [phrase] gre…

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

O 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 dew that early passeth away.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

O 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 dew that goeth early away.

Young’s Literal Translation

What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness [is] as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early — going.

World English Bible

“Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.

Darby Translation

What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do unto thee, Judah? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away.

Douay-Rheims

What shall I do to thee, O Ephraim? what shall I do to thee, O Juda? your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth away in the morning.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

O 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 dew that early passeth away.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do to thee, Juda? whereas your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that goes away.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Τί σοι ποιήσω Ἐφραίμ; τί σοι ποιήσω Ἰούδα; τὸ δὲ ἔλεος ὑμῶν ὡς νεφέλη πρωϊνὴ, καὶ ὡς δρόσος ὀρθρινὴ πορευομένη.