Hosea 14

¹ Israel, return to the LORD your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.

² Take words with you, and return to the LORD. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good; so we offer bulls as we vowed of our lips.

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.”

⁴ “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them.

⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel. 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.

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.

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.”

⁹ Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Around Hosea 14

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Hosea as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

God tells Hosea to take a wife who will not be faithful to him, and from that moment the prophet’s own home becomes a picture of God and Israel. The book moves between accusation and tenderness. Israel has chased other gods and trusted foreign powers, and it has been told so. Yet God cannot give his people up.

In chapter 11 God speaks like a parent: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him,” and “I taught Ephraim to walk.” Then comes the cry that gives the book its heart: “How can I give you up, Ephraim?” It ends with a call to return and a promise of healing.

Background

Hosea prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel in the eighth century before Christ, in its last prosperous and then chaotic decades before Assyria destroyed it. He spoke to a land that still seemed secure and was close to its end.

How Christians read it

Readers have asked whether the marriage was a real one or a parable; most take it as real. The book’s picture of God as a husband wronged and as a parent teaching a child to walk (chapter 11) is among the most moving in the prophets. Jesus twice quotes its line that God desires mercy and not sacrifice, and Matthew applies 11:1 to Jesus’ childhood.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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