Hosea 6:5
Therefore 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. Therefore 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.
God hews people by the prophets and slays them by the words of His mouth, cutting them down with reproof that exposes and condemns unfaithfulness and disobedience, and His judgments go forth openly and clearly like light. The cutting word was spoken to Ephraim and Judah, to rebellious Israel, whose goodness quickly fades like a morning cloud and early dew. They rejected God's provision for them.
Their condition belongs to a long history in which atheists and worldly religionists ever since Cain lifted his hand against Abel have rejected every heavenly provision to restore the moral image of God in man, even casting aside the gift of His only begotten Son as worthless. God desires mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings, but they like men have transgressed the covenant and dealt treacherously against Him. The hewing is constructive shaping, as reproof, warning, admonition, advice and counsel work like tools to cut away what is wrong. They transform heart and character after the divine pattern and prepare people like rough stones squared and polished for a heavenly building so they keep the way of the Lord in holiness.
This prophetic confrontation exposes selfishness and covetousness that defile and dishonor God's work. The verse applies to people who oppose God and work against His will, whose deeds are already going before them into judgment and who must answer individually. Refusing this correction and failing to purify the soul by obeying the whole truth leaves a person unprepared for the time of trouble, the falling of the plagues, and the day of the Lord, when there is no more time for preparation. Those who mistook their spiritual condition as better than it is will recognize their need only when it is too late to change.
The wider passage prophesies the state of the world just prior to the second coming of the Lord, when iniquity abounds because men have transgressed the law and by continual transgression broken the everlasting covenant given on condition of obedience. Having turned away from God and His righteous government they come more and more under the sway of seducing spirits. Men professing godliness indulge their own traits of character and become self-indulgent and self-centered unless conscientiously under the control of God.