Hoseachapter 14

1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.

2 Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.

3 Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

4 I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

6 His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

7 They will return and dwell in his shade; they will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me.

9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.

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Chapter summary

The book closes with the shortest road home and the most beautiful.

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The book closes with the shortest road home and the most beautiful. 'O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words', and the words are given: take away all iniquity, Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses, we will call no more the work of our hands our gods, 'for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.' God's answer is pure grace: 'I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely… I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall blossom as the lily.' Ephraim renounces idols at last; the final verse asks who is wise enough to understand these things.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Hosea — Hosea overview

A. 1–3 Take words with you and return to the LORD
B. 4–8 I will heal their backsliding and be as the dew to Israel
C. 9 Who is wise? The ways of the LORD are right

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Job 342 verses
- Job 34:31Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more.
- Job 34:32Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
- Read Job 34 →
Joel 21 verse
- Joel 2:12“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
- Read Joel 2 →
Hosea 61 verse
- Hosea 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Read Hosea 6 →
Hosea 121 verse
- Hosea 12:6But you must return to your God, maintaining love and justice, and always waiting on your God.
- Read Hosea 12 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Hebrews 131 verse
- Hebrews 13:15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.
- Read Hebrews 13 →
Psalms 511 verse
- Psalms 51:2Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
- Read Psalms 51 →
Psalms 101 verse
- Psalms 10:14But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
- Read Psalms 10 →
Psalms 681 verse
- Psalms 68:5A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.
- Read Psalms 68 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.