Hosea 14:1-7

1 Israel, return to the Lord your God, because your sins have made you fall.

2 Come back to the Lord and say these words to him: "Take away all our sin and kindly receive us, and we will keep the promises we made to you.

3 Assyria cannot save us, nor will we trust in our horses. We will not say again, 'Our gods,' to the things our hands have made. You show mercy to orphans."

4 The Lord says, "I will forgive them for leaving me and will love them freely, because I am not angry with them anymore.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel, and they will blossom like a lily. Like the cedar trees in Lebanon, their roots will be firm.

6 They will be like spreading branches, like the beautiful olive trees and the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon.

7 The people of Israel will again live under my protection. They will grow like the grain, they will bloom like a vine, and they will be as famous as 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.