Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
Parallel translations
- WEB Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.
- KJV O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
- NKJV O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
- NASB Return, Israel, to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your wrongdoing.
- NLT Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Hosea pleads with Israel to return to the LORD their God, since their sin has caused their fall. It is a tender, gracious call to repentance after the warnings of judgment.
Overview
After chapters of indictment, the book closes with an open invitation to return. The phrase "Yahweh your God" reminds them that the covenant relationship still stands and the door of mercy remains open. This summons embodies the gospel pattern of acknowledging sin as the cause of ruin and turning to God for restoration.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Joel 2:12–13“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
- Hos 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Hos 12:6But you must return to your God, maintaining love and justice, and always waiting on your God.
- 2 Chr 30:6–9So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.
- Zech 1:3–4So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
- Acts 26:18–20to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
- Isa 55:6–7Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Jer 4:1“If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,
- Hos 13:9You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper.
- Jer 3:12–14Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever.
- Lam 5:16The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
- Ezek 28:14–16You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for I had ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
- Jer 2:19Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Hos 5:5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.
- 1 Sam 7:3–4Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.
How Hosea 14:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.