Passage
Take words with you and return to Yahweh. Say to Him, “Forgive all iniquity And take what is good, That we may pay in full the fruit of our lips.
Hosea 14:2 (LSB)
Nearby Context
Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to Yahweh your God, For you have stumbled in your iniquity.
Hosea 14:2 Take words with you and return to Yahweh. Say to Him, “Forgive all iniquity And take what is good, That we may pay in full the fruit of our lips.
Hosea 14:3 Assyria will not save us; We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’ To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds compassion.”
Hosea 14:4 I will heal their turning away from Me; I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "take", "words", "return", "yahweh", "forgive", "iniquity", and "good". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "take" and "words", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Return O Israel to Yahweh your God..." into verse 3's "Assyria will not save us We will...", so "take" and "words" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "take" and "words" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.