Hosea 5:6

The Futility of Sacrificial Ritual without Moral Obedience

5:6 Although they bring their flocks and herds

to seek the favor of the Lord,

They will not find him –

he has withdrawn himself from them!

Hosea 5:15

5:15 Then I will return again to my lair

until they have suffered their punishment.

Then they will seek me;

in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

Isaiah 27:12-13

27:12 At that time the Lord will shake the tree, from the Euphrates River to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites. 27:13 At that time a large trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 3:22-23

3:22 Come back to me, you wayward people.

I want to cure your waywardness.

Say, ‘Here we are. We come to you

because you are the Lord our God.

3:23 We know our noisy worship of false gods

on the hills and mountains did not help us.

We know that the Lord our God

is the only one who can deliver Israel.

Jeremiah 31:6-10

31:6 Yes, a time is coming

when watchmen will call out on the mountains of Ephraim,

“Come! Let us go to Zion

to worship the Lord our God!”’”

31:7 Moreover, the Lord says,

“Sing for joy for the descendants of Jacob.

Utter glad shouts for that foremost of the nations.

Make your praises heard.

Then say, ‘Lord, rescue your people.

Deliver those of Israel who remain alive.’

31:8 Then I will reply, ‘I will bring them back from the land of the north.

I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth.

Blind and lame people will come with them,

so will pregnant women and women about to give birth.

A vast throng of people will come back here.

31:9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition.

I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance.

I will lead them besides streams of water,

along smooth paths where they will never stumble.

I will do this because I am Israel’s father;

Ephraim is my firstborn son.’”

31:10 Hear what the Lord has to say, O nations.

Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea.

Say, “The one who scattered Israel will regather them.

He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.”

Jeremiah 50:4-5

50:4 “When that time comes,” says the Lord,

“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.

They will come back with tears of repentance

as they seek the Lord their God.

50:5 They will ask the way to Zion;

they will turn their faces toward it.

They will come and bind themselves to the Lord

in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.