Liturgical Colour : Black

Hosea 6 : 1-6

Haec dicit Dominus : In tribulatione sua mane consurgent ad me : Venite, et revertamur ad Dominum : quia ipse cepit, et sanabit nos : percutiet, et curabit nos. Vivificabit nos post duos dies : in die tertia suscitabit nos, et vivemus in conspectu Ejus. Sciemus, sequemurque, ut cognoscamus Dominum : quasi diluculum praeparatus est egressus Ejus, et veniet quasi imber nobis temporaneus, et serotinus terrae.

Quid faciam tibi Ephraim? Quid faciam tibi Juda? Misericordia vestra quasi nubes matutina, et quasi ros mane pertransiens. Propter hoc dolavi in prophetis, occidi eos in verbis oris Mei : et judicia tua quasi lux egredientur. Quia misericordiam volui, et non sacrificium, et scientiam Dei plus quam holocausta.

English translation

Thus says the Lord, “In their affliction, they will rise early to Me. Come, and let us return to the Lord, for He had taken us, and He will heal us. He will strike, and He will cure us. He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up and we shall live in His sight. We shall know and we shall follow on, that we may know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning light and He will come to us as the early and the latter rain to the earth.”

“What shall I do to you, o Ephraim? What shall I do to you, o Judah? Your mercy is as a morning cloud and as the dew that goes away in the morning. For this reason I have hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and your judgments shall go forth as the light. For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than holocausts.”