Hosea 14:4 (YLT)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Hosea 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.

Hosea 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.'

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

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

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heal", "backsliding", "love", "freely", "turned", "hath", and "mine". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heal" and "backsliding", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Asshur doth not save us on a..." into verse 5's "I am as dew to Israel he...", so "heal" and "backsliding" 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 "heal" and "backsliding" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.