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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Return, Israel to Jehovah-Jesus


Hosea 14:1-9 NIV


Repentance to Bring Blessing


1Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
2Take Words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to Him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.a

3Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”

4“I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for My Anger has turned away from them.
5I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
6his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8Ephraim, what more have Ib to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from Me.”
9Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The Ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.







By the terrible denunciation of vengeance which concludes the preceding chapter, the prophet is led to exhort Israel to repentance, furnishing them with a beautiful form of prayer, very suitable to the occasion, Hosea 14:1-3.

Upon which God, ever ready to pardon the penitent, is introduced making large promises of blessings, in allusion to those copious dews which refresh the green herbs, and which frequently denote, not only temporal salvation, but also the rich and refreshing comforts of the Gospel, Hosea 14:4-7.


Their reformation from idolatry is foretold, and their consequent prosperity, under the emblem of a green flourishing fir tree, Hosea 14:8; but these promises are confined to those who may bring forth the fruits of righteousness, and the wicked are declared to have no share in them, Hosea 14:9.

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