A Plea to Repent
1Israel, return to the LORD your God, y
for you have stumbled in your iniquity. z
2 Take words of repentance with you a
and return to the LORD.
Say to him: “Forgive all our iniquity
and accept what is good,
so that we may repay you
with praise from our lips. b
3 Assyria will not save us, c
we will not ride on horses, d
and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods! ’ e
to the work of our hands. f
For the fatherless receives compassion in you.” g
A Promise of Restoration
4 I will heal their apostasy; h
I will freely love them, i
for my anger will have turned from him. j
5 I will be like the dew to Israel; k
he will blossom like the lily l
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. m
6 His new branches will spread,
and his splendor will be like the olive tree, n
his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon. o
7 The people will return and live beneath his shade. p
They will grow grain q
and blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, why should I have anything more
to do with idols? r
It is I who answer and watch over him.
I am like a flourishing pine tree; s
your fruit comes from me. t
9 Let whoever is wise u understand these things,
and whoever is insightful recognize them.
For the ways of the LORD are right, v
and the righteous walk in them, w
but the rebellious stumble in them. x
C. Hope: Repent and God will forgive (14:1–9). 14:1–3. The third part of this lawsuit ends with a statement of hope just like the earlier sections in 5:15–6:3 and 11:1–11. Although the nation has repeatedly sinned and will surely be disciplined by God, there is still hope that the people will repent and return to God (14:1). Sin is the stumbling block that has tripped up the nation, so they must turn from their sin (cf. Is 55:6–7), return to the Lord (cf. Dt 30:2), prayerfully confess their sins, and seek God’s gracious forgiveness so that they can once again praise him (14:2). They need to confess that their Assyrian alliance, a strong Israelite army, and dependence on false gods will not save them (14:3). Their only hope is to trust in God, whose strength is seen when people are weak and unable to save themselves. Only God is truly compassionate to the weak, the powerless, and the fatherless.
14:4–8. God next promises to forgive and restore his people when they trust in him. He will heal his people miraculously, love them freely, and no longer be angry with them (14:4). God’s love will overpower their sinful tendencies, and then he will be able to bless them with fertility. The nation will blossom like a beautiful flower and become deeply rooted like a grand tree in the soil of Israel (14:5). Eventually its splendor will match the beauty of an old olive tree that has deep roots, so many people will gather under its shade (14:6–7). God’s people will be fruitful and multiply and be as many as the grains of wheat in a field. Fertility gods and their idols will no longer tempt these people because God will be the source of their fertility; they need not look to anyone else (14:8).
14:9. The book of Hosea ends with an unusual admonition to the reader. The reader who is truly wise and discerning, like the wise people of Deuteronomy (4:6–8; 30:11–16), Psalms (1:1–6), and Proverbs (10:27–31), will understand what this book is about and what lessons to draw from the failures of Israel as well as the gracious promises of God. The most obvious lesson is to accept that the ways of a holy and loving God are right and always just. The second lesson relates to how people should respond to what God says and does. Those who are righteous will listen to and follow what God says, but those who are foolish will rebel against God’s instruction. The first group will enjoy God’s blessings, but the second group will stumble and fall.