Book of Hosea Chapter 11 Vs. 6

 The Lord's Love for Israel

And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. Hos. 11:6

And the sword... Literally, shall light, shall whirl down upon. It shall come with violence upon them as a thing whirled with force, and then it shall alight and abide, to their destruction. As Jeremiah says, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, a grievous whirlwind; it shall fall grievously (literally, whirl down) on the head of the wicked (Jer. 23:19).

and shall consume... That is, his mighty men and lesser towns and villages. It is all one, whether the mighty men are so called, by metaphor, from the branches of a tree, or from the "bars" of a city, made out of those branches. Their mighty men, so far from escaping for their might, should be the first to perish.

and devour them... Swallow them up with speed and ease, without remedy.

because of their... Which they first took (1Kgs. 12:28), and ever since the irreclaimable have followed, in opposition to all the good counsels the prophets gave them from time to time. To all which they have turned a deaf ear; they have sued for Egypt and Ashur’s favor, and slighted mine.

This is speaking of the invasion that comes. This will be bloody. All the cities will be joined in this battle. The sword will be in all the cities. They had taken counsel from the world, instead of from God. The consuming of the branches would be all their young men falling in battle.

The wording bars of their gates (Hos. 11:6) is supported by the parallel term cities. Another possible translation of the Hebrew for bars of their gates is braggarts (cf. Wolff, Hosea, p. 192). In favor of this is the following line (Hos. 11:6) which literally reads, on account of their plans. Plans refers to rebellious attitudes and practices (cf. Mic. 6:16).

Put an end literally reads eats, devours. The same Hebrew verb ('āḵal) appears in Hos. 11:4 (feed). The repetition of this word in Hos. 11:4 and Hos. 11:6 emphasizes the contrast between the Lord’s past blessing and His future judgment. In the past He had given Israel food to eat. Now, ironically, He was about to send swords to eat Israel! For a similar wordplay involving the same Hebrew term, see Isa. 1:19-20.