Hosea 14 (YLT)

Chapter Text

14:1 Turn back, O Israel, unto Jehovah thy God, For thou hast stumbled by thine iniquity.

14:2 Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah, Say ye unto Him: `Take away all iniquity, and give good, And we do render the fruit of our lips.

14:3 Asshur doth not save us, on a horse we ride not, Nor do we say any more, Our God, to the work of our hands, For in Thee find mercy doth the fatherless.'

14:4 I heal their backsliding, I love them freely, For turned back hath Mine anger from him.

14:5 I am as dew to Israel, he flourisheth as a lily, And he striketh forth his roots as Lebanon.

14:6 Go on do his sucklings, And his beauty is as an olive, And he hath fragrance as Lebanon.

14:7 Return do the dwellers under his shadow, They revive <FI>as<Fi> corn, and flourish as a vine, His memorial <FI>is<Fi> as wine of Lebanon.

14:8 O Ephraim, what to Me any more with idols? I--I afflicted, and I cause him to sing: `I <FI>am<Fi> as a green fir-tree,' From Me is thy fruit found.

14:9 Who <FI>is<Fi> wise, and doth understand these? Prudent, and knoweth them? For upright are the ways of Jehovah, And the righteous go on in them, And the transgressors stumble therein!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "mercy", "turn", "back", "israel", "jehovah", "thou", "hast", and "stumbled". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "mercy" and "turn", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local YLT text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "mercy" and "turn" carries the first interpretive weight. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "mercy" and "turn" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.