Take Words with You
1 Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. 2 Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. 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 Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
The last chapter supplies the sentences to say, and what Israel is told to bring is the only offering it has left.
Israel, return to Yahweh your God. The book's most frequent verb, in the imperative, for the last time — and the reason given is not the enemy but the self: you have fallen because of your sin.
Verse 2 is the most practical instruction in the prophets: take words with you, and return to Yahweh. No animals are mentioned. A nation that had multiplied altars Hosea 8:11 and whose sacrifices had become dinner Hosea 8:13 is told to bring sentences, and then the sentences are supplied — forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good.
And the offering is named in a phrase the versions render differently: what they bring instead of bulls is the fruit of their own lips.
Verse 3 has them renounce all three of the book's rivals in one breath. Assyria can't save us — the empire consulted as a physician Hosea 5:13. We won't ride on horses — the military strength Judah was told not to trust Hosea 1:7. And neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Our gods! — the calf the workman made Hosea 8:6.
God's answer in verse 4 uses three verbs and no conditions: I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away. The love that was withdrawn in chapter 9 Hosea 9:15 is restored, and the adverb is freely.
Then the botany: dew, lily, roots like Lebanon, olive, vine, fragrance. The God who was a moth and a lion becomes the dew Hosea 5:12 — and the nation whose love evaporated like dew Hosea 6:4 receives dew that stays.
Verse 8 asks what have I to do any more with idols?, and the book ends by turning to the reader: who is wise, that he may understand these things?
settled What this mark means