Deuteronomy 30:2-6
30:2 Then if you and your descendants
turn to the
Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being
just as
I am commanding you today,
30:3 the
Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he
has scattered you.
30:4 Even if your exiles are in the most distant land,
from there the
Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.
30:5 Then he
will bring you to the land your ancestors
possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors.
30:6 The
Lord your God will also cleanse
your heart and the hearts of your descendants
so that you may love him
with all your mind and being and so that you may live.
Jeremiah 29:12-14
29:12 When you call out to me and come to me in prayer,
I will hear your prayers.
29:13 When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul,
29:14 I will make myself available to you,’
says the
Lord.
‘Then I will reverse your plight
and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the
Lord.
‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’
Hosea 14:1-4
Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance
14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for your sin has been your downfall!
14:2 Return to the Lord and repent!
Say to him: “Completely forgive our iniquity;
accept our penitential prayer,
that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls.
14:3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not ride warhorses.
We will never again say, ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made.
For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!”
Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings
14:4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger will turn away from them.
Joel 2:12-13
An Appeal for Repentance
2:12 “Yet even now,” the Lord says,
“return to me with all your heart –
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Tear your hearts,
not just your garments!”
2:13 Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger and boundless in loyal love – often relenting from calamitous punishment.