Hosea 14:2-10
Chapter 14
Conversion
Return to your God, the Lord, O Israel!Your sins have led to your downfall.Return to the Lord with humble words. Say to him: Oh, you who show compassion to the fatherless,forgive our debt, be appeased.Instead of bulls and sacrifices,accept the praise from our lips.
Assyria will not save us: we will no longer seek horses, nor will we ever again say ‘Our gods’ to the work of our hands.
I will heal their disloyalty and love them with all my heart, because my anger has turned away from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel, and he will flourish like the lily. Like a cedar, he will send down his roots;
his young shoots will grow and spread. His beauty will be like an olive tree, and his fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar.
They will dwell in my shade once more,they will flourish like crops,they will blossom like a vine,and their fame will be like Lebanon wine.
What would Ephraim do with idols, when I am the one who hears him and makes him prosper? I am like an evergreen cypress tree; all your fruitfulness comes from me.
Epilogue
Who is wise enough to understand all this? Who is discerning enough to grasp it? The ways of the Lord are straight: the righteous walk in them, but sinners stumble.
Commentaries
Judgement.
This marks the beginning of a series of short poems that focus on aspects of Israel’s joyful early history, contrasting with its current situation. Throughout, Israel’s unfaithfulness and infidelity are highlighted in opposition to the Lord’s steadfastness.
Conversion – Epilogue.
The book of Hosea concludes with a call to repentance; God is willing to heal His people’s betrayal (5) by presenting tender images that inspire hope and comfort to a people overwhelmed by their own sin (6-9).