A Plea to Return to the Lord

Hosea 14

1 n Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for o you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
 2 Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
"Take away all iniquity;
accept p what is good,
and we will pay with bulls
q the vows 1 of our lips.
 3 r Assyria shall not save us;
s we will not ride on horses;
and t we will say no more, 'Our God,'
to the work of our hands.
u In you the orphan finds mercy."

4 I v will heal their apostasy;
w I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
 5 x I will be like the dew to Israel;
y he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees z of Lebanon;
 6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be a like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
 7 They shall return and b dwell beneath my 2 shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 O c Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you. 3
I am like an evergreen cypress;
d from me comes your fruit.

9 e Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and f the upright walk in them,
f but transgressors stumble in them.

  1. Cross References
    Hosea 6:1
    Come, let us return to the Lord ; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
    Hosea 12:6
    "So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God."
    Hosea 3:5
    Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
  2. Cross References
    Hosea 13:9
    He destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper.
  3. Cross References
    Hosea 5:15
    I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.
  4. Cross References
    Hebrews 13:15
    Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
    Psalms 50:13 - 14
    Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
    Psalms 69:30 - 31
    I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
  5. Cross References
    Hosea 5:13
    When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 30:16
    And you said, "No! We will flee upon horses"; therefore you shall flee away; and, "We will ride upon swift steeds"; therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
    Isaiah 31:1
    Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!
  7. Cross References
    Hosea 14:8
    O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 10:14
    But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 3:22
    Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness." "Behold, we come to you, for you are the Lord our God.
    Hosea 6:1
    Come, let us return to the Lord ; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
  10. Cross References
    Hosea 11:1
    When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
  11. Cross References
    Hosea 6:3
    Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord ; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 27:6
    In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.
  13. Cross References
    Psalms 92:12
    The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
    Isaiah 35:2
    It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 52:8
    But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
  15. Cross References
    Psalms 91:1
    He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
  16. Cross References
    Hosea 14:3
    Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.
    Isaiah 30:22
    Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, "Be gone!
  17. Cross References
    Hosea 2:8
    And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.
    Hosea 2:23
    And I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, 'You are my people'; and he shall say, 'You are my God.'
    John 15:4 - 5
    Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 107:43
    Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
    Jeremiah 9:12
    Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?
    Daniel 12:10
    Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.
    John 8:47
    Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.
    John 18:37
    Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world - to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.
  19. Cross References
    Proverbs 10:29
    The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.
    Luke 2:34
    And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed
    2 Corinthians 2:16
    To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
  20. Cross References
    Proverbs 10:29
    The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.
    Luke 2:34
    And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed
    2 Corinthians 2:16
    To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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