Hosea 14:1-7

1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2 Take words with you and return to the Lord; say to him, "Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.

3 Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; we will say no more, "Our God,' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy."

4 I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily, he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.

6 His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.

7 They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Hosea 14:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 14

This chapter concludes the book, with gracious promises to repenting sinners, to returning backsliders. It begins with an exhortation to Israel to return to the Lord, seeing he was their God, and they had fallen by sin from prosperity into adversity, temporal and spiritual, Ho 14:1; and they are directed what to say to the Lord, upon their return to him, both by way of petition, and of promise and of resolution how to behave for the future, encouraged by his grace and mercy, Ho 14:2,3; and they are told what the Lord, by way of answer, would say to them, Ho 14:4; and what he would be to them; and what blessings of grace he would bestow on them; and in what flourishing and fruitful circumstances they should be, Ho 14:5-8; and the chapter ends with a character of such that attend to and understand those things; and with a recommendation of the ways of the Lord, which are differently regarded by men, Ho 14:9.

Footnotes

• [a]. Gk Syr: Heb [bulls]
• [b]. Cn: Heb [like Lebanon]
• [c]. Heb [his]
• [d]. Cn: Heb [they shall grow grain]