Today’s sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost comes from the Old Testament lesson appointed for today: Hosea 5:15–6:6.

It’s rare when Hosea comes up in the Lectionary, so I wanted to make sure I shared this word from the prophet Hosea – “Mercy – Not Sacrifice.”

Hosea 5:15 – 6:6 (English Standard Version)

¹⁵ I will return again to my place,
    until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
    and in their distress earnestly seek me.

6 “Come, let us return to the Lord;
    for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
    he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
² After two days he will revive us;
    on the third day he will raise us up,
    that we may live before him.
³ Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
    his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
    as the spring rains that water the earth.”
⁴ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
    What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
    like the dew that goes early away.
⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
    I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
    and my judgement goes forth as the light.
⁶ For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

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