Hosea

Introduction
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
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14

CHAPTER 14

1Samaria^* has become guilty,

for she has rebelled against her God.

They shall fall by the sword,

their infants shall be dashed to pieces,^a

their pregnant women shall be ripped open.^b

Sincere Conversion and New Life

2Return, Israel, to the LORD, your God;

you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

3Take with you words,

and return to the LORD;

Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,

and take what is good.

Let us offer the fruit of our lips.^c

4^* Assyria will not save us,

nor will we mount horses;^d

We will never again say, ‘Our god,’

to the work of our hands;

for in you the orphan finds compassion.”^e

5I will heal their apostasy,

I will love them freely;

for my anger is turned away from them.

6I will be like the dew for Israel:^f

he will blossom like the lily;

He will strike root like the Lebanon cedar,

7and his shoots will go forth.^g

His splendor will be like the olive tree

and his fragrance like Lebanon cedar.^h

8Again they will live in his shade;

they will raise grain,

They will blossom like the vine,

and his renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

9Ephraim! What more have I to do with idols?ⁱ

I have humbled him, but I will take note of him.

I am like a verdant cypress tree.^*

From me fruit will be found for you!

Epilogue

10^* Who is wise enough to understand these things?^j

Who is intelligent enough to know them?

Straight are the paths of the LORD,^k

the just walk in them,^l

but sinners stumble in them.

* [14:1] Samaria: the capital of the Northern Kingdom will fall; this is the punishment predicted for Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom.

* [14:4] These good intentions promise a reversal of Israel’s sins: no more reliance on “Assyria,” i.e., on foreign alliances (see notes on 8:9 and 12:2), on “horses,” i.e., on human power (10:13), and on idolatry (8:4–6; 13:2). Israel will trust in the Lord alone.

* [14:9] Verdant cypress tree: the symbol of lasting life, the opposite of the sacred trees of the Baal cult (4:13). The Lord provides the “fruit” (peri) to Israel (2:7, 10), another instance of the wordplay on Ephraim (see notes on 9:16 and 13:15).

* [14:10] A challenge to the reader in the style of the wisdom literature.

a. [14:1] Ps 137:9.

b. [14:1] Am 1:13.

c. [14:3] Heb 13:15.

d. [14:4] Is 31:1.

e. [14:4] Lam 5:3.

f. [14:6] Is 26:19.

g. [14:7] Is 27:6.

h. [14:7] Sg 4:11.

i. [14:9] 2 Cor 6:16.

j. [14:10] Ps 107:43; Jer 9:11; Eccl 8:1.

k. [14:10] Dt 32:4.