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HOSEA • CHAPTER 14
Hosea 14
Marriage imagery, covenant betrayal, judgment, divine love, political instability, repentance, and restoration.
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Hosea 14
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
Israel, return to Yahweh your God;
for you have fallen because of your sin.
for you have fallen because of your sin.
2
Take words with you, and return to Yahweh.
Tell him, “Forgive all our sins,
and accept that which is good:
so we offer our lips like bulls.
Tell him, “Forgive all our sins,
and accept that which is good:
so we offer our lips like bulls.
3
Assyria can’t save us.
We won’t ride on horses;
neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’
for in you the fatherless finds mercy.”
We won’t ride on horses;
neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’
for in you the fatherless finds mercy.”
4
“I will heal their waywardness.
I will love them freely;
for my anger is turned away from him.
I will love them freely;
for my anger is turned away from him.
5
I will be like the dew to Israel.
He will blossom like the lily,
and send down his roots like Lebanon.
He will blossom like the lily,
and send down his roots like Lebanon.
6
His branches will spread,
and his beauty will be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
and his beauty will be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7
Men will dwell in his shade.
They will revive like the grain,
and blossom like the vine.
Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
They will revive like the grain,
and blossom like the vine.
Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8
Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols?
I answer, and will take care of him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
from me your fruit is found.”
I answer, and will take care of him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
from me your fruit is found.”
9
Who is wise, that he may understand these things?
Who is prudent, that he may know them?
For the ways of Yahweh are right,
and the righteous walk in them;
But the rebellious stumble in them.
Who is prudent, that he may know them?
For the ways of Yahweh are right,
and the righteous walk in them;
But the rebellious stumble in them.
PROPHETIC
Where this chapter fits
Hosea uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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