Hosea 14:2
in Hosea 14Bring 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good: so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips.
KJV
Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
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This verse in Hosea 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseTake with you words, and turn to the Lord,.... Not mere words without the heart, but such as come from it, and express the true sense of it; words of confession, as the Targum; by which sin is acknowledged, and repentance declared, and forgiveness asked.
This site's exposition
return unto the Lord thy God
on Hosea 14:1-3
O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity, opens the book's closing appeal, and verse 2 gives Israel the very words to bring, take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, so will we render the calves of our lips. Henry and Gill both read that last phrase as praise offered in place of animal sacrifice, the lips doing what the altar once did, an idea the writer of Hebrews later takes up as the fruit of our lips (Heb 13:15). Verse 3 renounces the three false securities named across the book in one breath, Assyria's army, Egypt's horses, and the idols called our gods, closing with the plain reason, for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Take with you words - And you may be assured that you pray aright, when you use the words which God himself has put in your mouths. On this very ground there is a potency in the Lord’s Prayer, when offered up believingly, beyond what can be found in any human composition. And it may be presumed that it was this consideration that induced our reformers to introduce it so frequently in the public liturgy. See the order of God’s directions here: - 1. Hearing these merciful invitations, believe them to be true.
on Hosea 14:1-3
We are in the last chapter of the book of the Prophet Hosea. Throughout the book there has been thunder— sometimes a low rumbling, as of a distant tempest—sometimes peal on peal, as of a storm immediately overhead. And now the tempest has gathered all its force. Here it culminates. You expect the bolt of Heaven to destroy. Lo, instead thereof, a silver shower of mercy! The gentle drops come down plenteously and you hear them fall upon the tender herb like soft and low music. God does not say, "O Israel, depart accursed!"
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thus the exile, wherein the temple service ceased, prepared the way for the gospel time when the types of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament being realized in Christ's perfect sacrifice once for all, "the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips" (Heb 13:14) takes their place in the New Testament.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Return, O Israel You, who are in the land of Judah, lest what happens to Samaria happens to you. Therefore, the topics are juxtaposed. This can be compared to a king against whom a province rebelled. The king sent a general and commanded him to destroy it.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Samaria shall be accounted guilty From now on, her guilt will be revealed.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קְח֤וּ | kechu | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| עִמָּכֶם֙ | ʾimakhem | with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| דְּבָרִ֔ים | devarim | words | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| וְשׁ֖וּבוּ | veshuvu | and return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אִמְר֣וּ | ʾimru | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָ֗יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| תִּשָּׂ֤א | tisa' | you will forgive | H5375 → | 656 times |
| עָוֹן֙ | ʾavon | iniquity | H5771 → | 233 times |
| וְקַח־ | vekach- | and take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| ט֔וֹב | tov | good thing[s] | H2896 → | 538 times |
| וּֽנְשַׁלְּמָ֥ה | uneshalemah | so let us pay | H7999 → | |
| פָרִ֖ים | farim | bulls | H6499 → | |
| שְׂפָתֵֽינוּ׃ | sefateinu | lips our | H8193 → |
קְח֤וּtake
kechuH3947 →966 times
עִמָּכֶם֙with you
ʾimakhemH5973 →1050 times
דְּבָרִ֔יםwords
devarimH1697 →1440 times
וְשׁ֖וּבוּand return
veshuvuH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אִמְר֣וּsay
ʾimruH559 →5305 times
אֵלָ֗יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
תִּשָּׂ֤אyou will forgive
tisa'H5375 →656 times
עָוֹן֙iniquity
ʾavonH5771 →233 times
וְקַח־and take
vekach-H3947 →966 times
ט֔וֹבgood thing[s]
tovH2896 →538 times
וּֽנְשַׁלְּמָ֥הso let us pay
uneshalemahH7999 →
פָרִ֖יםbulls
farimH6499 →
שְׂפָתֵֽינוּ׃lips our
sefateinuH8193 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 13:15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.
it leads to
- Psalms 107:21–22
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.
- Psalms 50:14
Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
- Romans 12:1
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
- Psalms 145:1–21
I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever.
- 1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Psalms 107:21–22
Through
Job 7:21Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
it leads to
- Job 10:14
If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.
- Daniel 12:2
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Job 10:14
About Hosea
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2192: “The Joyous Return” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.