YOUR FRUITFULNESS COMES FROM GOD

Passage: Hosea 14:1-9

Key verse: 8b

NIV

Repentance to Bring Blessing

14 [a]Return,(A) Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins(B) have been your downfall!(C)
2 Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive(D) all our sins
and receive us graciously,(E)
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[b](F)
3 Assyria cannot save us;(G)
    we will not mount warhorses.(H)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’(I)
    to what our own hands have made,(J)
    for in you the fatherless(K) find compassion.”

4 “I will heal(L) their waywardness(M)
    and love them freely,(N)
    for my anger has turned away(O) from them.
5 I will be like the dew(P) to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.(Q)
Like a cedar of Lebanon(R)
    he will send down his roots;(S)
6     his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,(T)
    his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.(U)
7 People will dwell again in his shade;(V)
    they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom(W) like the vine—
    Israel’s fame will be like the wine(X) of Lebanon.(Y)
8 Ephraim, what more have I[c] to do with idols?(Z)
    I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;(AA)
    your fruitfulness comes from me.”

9 Who is wise?(AB) Let them realize these things.
    Who is discerning? Let them understand.(AC)
The ways of the Lord are right;(AD)
    the righteous walk(AE) in them,
    but the rebellious stumble in them.

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Footnotes
  1. Hosea 14:1 In Hebrew texts 14:1-9 is numbered 14:2-10.
  2. Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
  3. Hosea 14:8 Or Hebrew; Septuagint What more has Ephraim
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

A Plea to Return to the Lord

14 (A)Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for (B)you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take with you words
    and return to the Lord;
say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
accept (C)what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    (D)the vows[a] of our lips.
3 (E)Assyria shall not save us;
    (F)we will not ride on horses;
and (G)we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
(H)In you the orphan finds mercy.”

4 I (I)will heal their apostasy;
    (J)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
5 (K)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    (L)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees (M)of Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be (N)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 They shall return and (O)dwell beneath my[b] shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 O (P)Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.[c]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    (Q)from me comes your fruit.

9 (R)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and (S)the upright walk in them,
    (T)but transgressors stumble in them.

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Footnotes
  1. Hosea 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit
  2. Hosea 14:7 Hebrew his
  3. Hosea 14:8 Hebrew him
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. Take these words with you and return (1-8)

What are the words we must take to the Lord? 'Lord, forgive my sins, and receive me by your grace. Help me to offer to you the fruit of my lips' (2b). Anyone who returns to the Lord with humble repentance in his heart and on his lips is welcomed. Assyria cannot save Israel, nor can war-horses or idols. Only God can heal man's waywardness and love them freely. God's love is like dew that waters the lilies; he is like a great tree in whose shade his people can dwell. Fruitfulness comes from God.

2. Who is wise? (9)

The one who realized that repentance is the way of life; the one who discerns that the way of the Lord is right, and leaves the path of rebellion to walk in God's ways, is wise.

Prayer: Lord, I return to you with a repentant heart to claim your promised forgiveness. Help me to drink the dew of your love, rest in your shade and walk in your ways.

One Word: Repentance brings blessing