# Hosea 14 📖: Return and Be Healed [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Hosea Overview]] | [[Hosea 13]] | [[Joel 01]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance [[#Verse 01.]] Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sin has been your downfall! [[#Verse 02.]] Return to the Lord and repent! Say to him: “Completely forgive our iniquity; accept our penitential prayer, that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls. [[#Verse 03.]] Assyria cannot save us; we will not ride warhorses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods,’ to what our own hands have made. For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!” ### Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings [[#Verse 04.]] “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger will turn away from them. [[#Verse 05.]] I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily, he will send down his roots like a cedar of Lebanon. [[#Verse 06.]] His young shoots will grow; his splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. [[#Verse 07.]] People will reside again in his shade; they will plant and harvest grain in abundance. They will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon. [[#Verse 08.]] O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do with idols anymore! I will answer him and care for him. I am like a luxuriant cypress tree; your fruitfulness comes from me!” ### Concluding Exhortation [[#Verse 09.]] Who is wise? Let him discern these things! Who is discerning? Let him understand them! For the ways of the Lord are right; the godly walk in them, but in them the rebellious stumble. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The Hebrew word for "return" (*shuv*) is a key word in Hosea, and the book ends with a call to return (14:1). 2. 14:2 literally speaks of offering "bulls of our lips." The Greek translation reads "fruit of our lips," which Hebrews 13:15 echoes. 3. Israel confesses that horses (military power) and Assyria cannot save them (14:3). 4. Orphans finding compassion (14:3) shows God's care for the helpless. 5. Dew (14:5) was vital in Israel's dry summer months when there was no rain. 6. The cedars of Lebanon (14:5-6) were famous for their strength, height, and fragrance. 7. The olive tree (14:6) was a symbol of prosperity and beauty. 8. God compares Himself to a green cypress or pine tree (14:8), one of the only places the Old Testament compares God to a tree. 9. The book ends with a wisdom saying (14:9), like Proverbs, inviting the reader to understand. 10. In the Hebrew Bible, chapter 14 is numbered 14:2-10. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who heals our waywardness and loves us freely (14:4). Through Him we offer the "fruit of our lips" in praise (Hebrews 13:15) and find all our fruitfulness in Him (14:8; John 15:5). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. God tells Israel to take words with them and return to Him (14:2). What words of confession and trust do you need to bring to God? 2. Israel had to admit that Assyria and horses could not save them (14:3). What do we need to stop trusting in? 3. God promises to be like dew to Israel (14:5). What does it look like for God to refresh and grow His people? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verses 1-2: Return to the Lord your God and take words of repentance with you. - 📖 verse 4: God will heal their waywardness and love them freely. - 📖 verse 9: The ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Hebrews 13#Verse 15.|Hebrews 13:15]] - Offer the fruit of lips that confess His name. - 🔗 [[John 15#Verse 05.|John 15:5]] - Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. - 🔗 [[Luke 15#Verse 18.|Luke 15:18-20]] - The son returns with words of repentance. - 🔗 [[Jeremiah 03#Verse 22.|Jeremiah 3:22]] - Return, and I will heal your faithlessness. - 🔗 [[James 04#Verse 08.|James 4:8]] - Draw near to God. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Hosea 14 - SOAP|Come On Home]] ## 📂 Internal Notes