> [[hosea-13|← Previous]] | [[hosea-00|TOC]] --- # Hosea, Chapter 14 ## Chapter 14 1 Samaria has become guilty, ^hosea-14-1 for she has rebelled against her God. They shall fall by the sword, their infants shall be dashed to pieces, their pregnant women shall be ripped open. ### Sincere Conversion and New Life 2 Return, Israel, to the LORD, your God; ^hosea-14-2 you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 3 Take with you words, ^hosea-14-3 and return to the LORD; Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and take what is good. Let us offer the fruit of our lips. 4 Assyria will not save us, ^hosea-14-4 nor will we mount horses; We will never again say, ‘Our god,’ to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion.” 5 I will heal their [[apostasy]], ^hosea-14-5 I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them. 6 I will be like the dew for Israel: ^hosea-14-6 he will blossom like the lily; He will strike root like the Lebanon cedar, 7 and his shoots will go forth. ^hosea-14-7 His splendor will be like the olive tree and his fragrance like Lebanon cedar. 8 Again they will live in his shade; ^hosea-14-8 they will raise grain, They will blossom like the vine, and his renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. 9 Ephraim! What more have I to do with idols? ^hosea-14-9 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? ^hosea-14-10 Who is intelligent enough to know them? Straight are the paths of the LORD, the just walk in them, 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-corinthians-06|2 Cor 6]]:16]. j. (14:10) [Ps 107:43]; [Jer 9:11]; [Eccl 8:1]. k. (14:10) [Dt 32:4]. l. (14:10) [Dt 8:6]; [11:22]; [Mi 6:8]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[hosea-13|← Previous]] | [[hosea-00|TOC]]